Breaking the Fall: Religious Readings of Contemporary Fiction

Modern literary criticism has virtually neglected to interpret contemporary narrative fiction, poetry, and drama from a distinctly religious perspective. In this book, Robert Detweiler, the premier scholar of theology-based literary criticism, redresses this lack by presenting a clear and comprehensive study of religious themes in contemporary fiction. He applies the latest critical treatments to the study of religious themes in various works, including works by Margaret Atwood, Jorge Luis Borges, Annie Dillard, Franz Kafka, Milan Kundera, Walker Percy, and John Updike. In so doing, Detweiler keenly demonstrates that there are many ways to conduct a religious reading of a text. (PUBWestminster/John Knox)Winner of the AAR Award for Excellence in Publishing! The premier exponent of theological literary criticism treats religious themes in the contemporary fiction of Dillard, Updike, Atwood, Borges, Percy, Kundera, and Kafka. Dense and provocative. 198 pages, softcover.