Author Crush

I'm sure we've all had the experience of discovering a new author whose work resonates within us, who confirms and enlarges our view of the cosmos- both vertical and horizontal. After the first book, we look up their bibliography and are either disappointed that they only have one or two works- Harper Lee? Jetta Carleton?- or are overjoyed at the lengthy banquet table awaiting us.

Now we know that not every work will be equally fine, that there will be a few mis-fires or rough spots and that some will speak to us more than others. But that's okay- that's human nature.

My most recent find was this gentleman:

Roberston Davies, Canadian man of letters. Who wrote, besides several trilogies of novels, plays, essays and collected letters. I've collected all of the novels, but one, and some of the essays through diligent searching at Half-Price Books. (Yes, I could buy them off ABE or Amazon, but what would be the fun in that?)

I have one book of essays that I'm holding onto unread as a hedge against national angst, sort of like those hermetically sealed containers of heirloom seeds.

But now I have a new crush, who I found via a path that led from Frances Moore Lappe (I was trying to read variant views), to Day, to Schumacher, to Belloc, to finally... James V. Schall, S.J.

Luckily for me, Fr. Schall, who is a professor at Georgetown, is a very prolific writer and will keep me happily occupied for quite a while.

I'm an avid reader at One Cosmos, but recognize that much of GB's sideboard recommendations are above my ready comprehension level. But Fr. Schall, while certainly not 'lite', which would be a gross insult, is 'less dense'. A good choice for the medium-speed among us.

In fact, once I finish "On the Unseriousness of Human Affairs", I shall tackle the 25 volumes list of "These-People-Tell-The-Truth-Books" in its Appendix.