Of Fiction and Faith: Twelve American Writers Talk About Their Vision and Work

By W. Dale Brown

Book Overview

Of Fiction and Faith features personal interviews with twelve of America's most significant writers: Doris Betts, Frederick Buechner, Robert Olen Butler, Will Campbell, Elizabeth Dewberry, Clyde Edgerton, Denise Giardina, Robert Goldsborough, Jon Hassler, Garrison Keillor, Peggy Payne, and Walter Wangerin. Conducted over a five-year period, these interviews provide a window into the personal and literary lives of a company of writers whose work continues to defy categorization. These writers talk candidly about their careers, their audiences, their approaches to writing, and their attitudes toward issues of faith. Taken together, the interviews provide a perceptive analysis of contemporary literature and a challenge to the practice of labeling books as "Christian" or "secular."

The volume also includes photographs, a brief introduction to each of the writers, and a chronological listing of their work. In addition to serving those who are fans of one or more of these writers, this book is also an excellent resource for those interested in finding quality fiction for personal reading.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802843131
• ISBN13: 9780802843135
• Release Date: September 1997
• Publisher: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
• Length: 278 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Whets my appetite for more good reading

The twelve authors interviewed for this book seem to have, with few exceptions, certain things in common:1. None of them, with the exception of Garrison Keillor and, possibly, Water Wangerin are huge sellers. In fact, I had never heard of eight of the twelve writers in the book.2. Although having some connection to the Christian faith, none of them are what you would call "conservative", "evangelical" or "fundamentalist".3. None of the authors want to be pigeonholed as a "Christian author," or be exiled to the "Christian Bookstore" ghetto. Yet they run into the problem of being too religious for the secularists, and too secular for the religious.Probably the best thing about this book is that it has turned my on to some authors that were previously unfamiliar to me. The downside of that is that the books mentioned that sound most appealing to me are out of print. This book never fails to be interesting, and althought there are recurring themes (the influence of Flannery O'Connor, etc.), there are some suprises along the way, such as seemingly mild-mannered Garrison Keillor's vitriolic attack on the GOP. One drawback is that some of these interviews are more than a decade old. Nevertheless, this book is a worthwhile purchase.

A beautiful and vital book

This excellent collection of interviews is a wonderful contribution to both the literary and Christian communities. Each of the twelve subjects deserves a greater audience within these two groups, and most of them discuss the difficulties of crossing the divide between them. For readers familiar with the subjects' work, this collection offers a much needed focus on the spiritual themes and influences of their fiction. For new readers, this collection is a perfect introduction to writers worth reading. If you enjoy this book and would like to continue along similar lines, try The Christ-Haunted Landscape:Faith and Doubt in Southern Fiction. This is a collection of interviews with contemporary Southern writers. Susan Ketchin (who is, coincidentally, the wife of Faith and Fiction subject Clyde Edgerton) is the interviewer/author.