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Make the case that Chesterton is bigger than the keepers of culture have allowed * National Review * Ker has produced one of those rare biographies that is full of detailed information and personal anecdotes while never losing the author's original goal. We cannot recommend this volume too highly * The Master's Seminary Journal * This biography is a necessity for any student of Chesterton * Towers * Ker's biography is indispensable for anyone who admires Chesterton's work and is interested in his life. * Commonweal * For the sheer life-affirming, joyful Chesterton constantly bursts through the relentless narrative and there is much to discover as well as much to enjoy in the corpulence of this book * Recusant History * There are some genuinely good books on Chesterton. . . But the need for a proper critical biography has long been acknowledged, and Ker has supplied it. Now, and for the foreseeable future, for any true understanding of the scope of G.K. Chesterton's achievement, which captures not only the sage but the good, gentle, generous man, Ker's biography will be indispensable. * The Weekly Standard * Ker is supremely capable of locating Chesterton's thought amid that of his contemporaries as well as evaluating it critically. . . . What his biography adds is a judicious critical eye that will help make the case that Chesterton is bigger than the keepers of culture have allowed * National Review * A big man, physically and intellectually, British Catholic author Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) finally gets the big book he deserves.... a monumental study * National Catholic Register * [A] masterful biography. Ker... has now become the most important source we have for understanding the master of paradox [Chesterton]... Ker's biography is essential, a labor of love to be sure * America * Magisterial * Matthew D'Ancona, Sunday Telegraph * Reveals valuable new information * The Times * Superb...absorbing * Piers Paul Read, Standpoint * Rewarding biography * Tribune * This is a brilliant biography for a brilliant man. * Times Higher Education * There are many fine things in Kers biography. Surely the best is found in his constant stress on the link between the comic and the serious in Chesterton. * Ralph C Wood, Seven * Full of colossal wit, wisdom, and common sense...that is this magnificent book * Catholic Times * Handles a complex subject with admirable lucidity. Mastering Chesterton's output is a heroic feat in itself * Peter Washington, Literary Review * Ian Ker provides an account of the thought of Chesterton that surpasses, in its comprehensiveness, anything that has been previously written about him * Bernard Manzo, Times Literary Supplement * [This] terrific new biography.... gives us a portrait of the man in the full.... Any biography of this size is bound to have some elements of dry, encyclopedic chronology; but in Ker's book, they are far more the exception than the rule. On just about every page, one will find extended quotes from Chesterton, of the kind that display his personality and overall joie de vivre. The author made me rediscover my early love of Chesterton and his perspective on the world, and for that I am deeply grateful * Michael Potemra, National Review Online * Spirited and ... enjoyable * The Atlantic * ... comprehensive biolography ... * The Lutheran * Detailed and compelling * Chronicle of Higher Education * Magnificent * Irish Catholic * Professor Ker's spirited and double-barreled attempt at a rehabilitation of his cherished subject is enjoyable in its own right, and takes in such matters as Chesterton's dialectical genius for paradox, the authority of the Father Brown stories in the detective genre, and the salience of Charles Dickens in the English canonical one * Christopher Hitchens, The Atlantic * This full-length scholarly biography will be indispensable for decades * Richard Harries, The Church Times * magisterial a splendid book * James E. Peson Jr., Touchstone * Heroically researched.. an impressive book that conveys a powerful sense of [Chestertons] personality * Dj Taylor, The Independent * Chesterton finally gets the big book he deserves a monumental study * Gerald J. Russello, The National Catholic Register * A brilliant towering biography * Gary Day, The Times Higher Educational Supplement * A discriminating portrait that does welcome justice to the full richness of [Chestertons] hitherto undervalued work the need for a proper critical biography has long been acknowledged and Ker has supplied itfor any true understanding of the scope of Chestertons achievement Kers biography will be indispensable. * Edward Short, The Weekly Standard * Ian Kers tremendous biography is an incitement to read Chesterton a fresh[it] confirms him as a great thinker * Christopher Howse, The Tablet * This masterly biography has the potential to help establish Chesterton in what Ker regards as his rightful place as a major English author * Susan Elkin, The Independent on Sunday * Ian Kers magisterial new biographical of Chesterto nwill now do for Chesterton what his definitive biography of Newman did for hima major literary achievement. Nobody who has any interest in Chesterton can afford to be without Ian Kers book * William Oddie, The Catholic Herald *

there are many fine things in Kers biography. Surely the best is found in his constant stress on the link between the comic and the serious in Chesterton. Ralph C Wood, Seven

`This is a brilliant biography for a brilliant man.' Times Higher Education `full of colossal wit, wisdom, and common sense...that is this magnificent book' Catholic Times `superb...absorbing' Piers Paul Read, Standpoint `this is a full-length scholarly biography that will be indispensable for decades' Church Times `rewarding biography' Tribune `Ian Ker provides an account of the thought of Chesterton that surpasses, in its comprehensiveness, anything that has been previously written about him' Bernard Manzo, Times Literary Supplement `Heroically researched...an impressive...book...that conveys a powerful sense of [Chesterton's] personality' DJ Taylor, The Independent `handles a complex subject with admirable lucidity. Mastering Chesterton's output is a heroic feat in itself' Peter Washington, Literary Review `reveals valuable new information' The Times `Ian Ker's magisterial new biography of Chesterton ... wil now do for Chesterton what his definitive biography of Newman did for him .. a major literary achievement ... Nobody who has any interest in Chesterton can afford to be without Ian Ker's book' Catholic Herald `Ian Ker's tremendous biography is an incitement to read Chesterton afresh ... [it] confirms him as a great thinker' The Tablet `This masterly biography...has the potential to help establish Chesterton in what Ker regards as his rightful place as a major English author.' Independent on Sunday `magisterial' Matthew D'Ancona, Sunday Telegraph `a brilliant ... towering biography' Gary Day, Times Higher Educational Supplement `Chesterton finally gets the big book he deserves ... a monumental study' National Catholic Register `[a] masterful biography' America `[this] terrific new biography of Chesterton ... gives us a portrait of the man in full' National Review Online `a discriminating portrait that does welcome justice to the full richness of [Chesterton's] hitherto undervalued work ... the need for a proper critical biography has long been acknowledged and Ker has supplied it ... for any true understanding of the scope of ... Chesterton's achievement ... Ker's biography will be indispensible' Weekly Standard `[this] biography ... will help make the case that Chesterton is bigger than the keepers of culture have allowed' National Review `spirited and ... enjoyable' The Atlantic `magisterial ... a splendid book' Touchstone `detailed and compelling' Chronicle of Higher Education `... comprehensive biolography ...' The Lutheran `magnificent' Irish Catholic

<br> Magisterial --Matthew D'Ancona, The Sunday Telegraph<br><p><br> Professor Ker's spirited and double-barreled attempt at a rehabilitation of his cherished subject is enjoyable in its own right, and takes in such matters as Chesterton's dialectical genius for paradox, the authority of the Father Brown stories in the detective genre, and the salience of Charles Dickens in the English canonical one. --Christopher Hitchens, The Atlantic<p><br> [A] masterful biography. Ker... has now become the most important source we have for understanding the master of paradox [Chesterton]... Ker's biography is essential, a labor of love to be sure... --America<br><p><br> A big man, physically and intellectually, British Catholic author Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) finally gets the big book he deserves.... a monumental study. --National Catholic Register<p><br> Magisterial.... a splendid book. --Touchstone<p><br> This is a brilliant biography for a brilliant man. --Times Higher Education Supplement<p><br> full of colossal wit, wisdom, and common sense...that is this magnificent book --Catholic Times<p><br>. . . detailed and compelling. . . --Jay Parini, The Chronicle of Higher Education<br><p><br> Ker is supremely capable of locating Chesterton's thought amid that of his contemporaries as well as evaluating it critically. . . . What his biography adds is a judicious critical eye that will help make the case that Chesterton is bigger than the keepers of culture have allowed. --National Review<br><p><br> '[This] terrific new biography.... gives us a portrait of the man in the full.... Any biography of this size is bound to have some elements of dry, encyclopedic chronology; but in Ker's book, they are far more the exception than the rule. On just about every page, one will find extended quotes from Chesterton, of the kind that display his personality and overall joie de vivre. The author made me rediscover my early love of Chesterton and his perspective on the world, and fo

Author Information

Ian Ker has taught both English literature and theology in universities in the United States and Britain, where he currently teaches in the Oxford theology faculty. He is the author and editor of more than twenty books on Newman, including John Henry Newman: A Biography (1988), as well as the author of The Catholic Revival in English Literature, 1845-1961 (2003).

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