If the whole of the Christian life is to be governed by the law of love the twofold love of God and one's neighborwhat might it mean to read lovingly? That is the question that drives this unique book. Jacobs pursues this challenging task by alternating largely theoretical, theological chaptersdrawing above all on Augustine and Mikhail Bakhtinwith interludes that investigate particular readers (some real, some fictional) in the act of reading. Among the authors considered are Shakespeare, Cervantes, Nabakov, Nicholson Baker, George Eliot, W.H. Auden, and Dickens. The theoretical...

In this lucid and balanced treatise, Alan Jacobs reveals the true parameters of Auden's change after his move to America in 1939. By carefully examining poems that represent transitional moments in Auden's thinking, he demonstrates the steady qualities of thought and expression found throughout Auden's poetry and shows how, in great art, as in great minds, change and continuity may powerfully coexist.

In this lucid and balanced treatise, Alan Jacobs reveals the true parameters of Auden's change after his move to America in 1939. By carefully examining poems that represent transitional moments in Auden's thinking, he demonstrates the steady qualities of thought and expression found throughout Auden's poetry and shows how, in great art, as in great minds, change and continuity may powerfully coexist.