Conversations with American Writers: The Doubt, the Faith, the In-Between [Paperback]

Dale Brown (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2008

Postmodernity has shoved a stick through the spokes of any story that tries to take us somewhere. With postmodern literary theory insistent that a story can mean nothing, serious writers see their seriousness linked to maintaining the position that their fictions have no particular point. How can a literary work without a message inform our faith? Dale Brown here collects the stories of many contemporary writers whose work does carry meaning and message. Though perhaps not the normal fare on the shelves of many Christian bookstores, their works nonetheless have much truth to tell in their wrestle with the sacred. Some of them begin with the problems they have with faith, while others are deeply enmeshed in their beliefs but take atypical ways of expressing it through their writing. Following Browns earlier collection, Of Faith and Fiction, these conversations with popular American writers offer a new dialogue in considering the power of art to sustain faith in unexpected ways.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

For more than 20 years, W. Dale Brown has been interviewing authors about wrestling with the sacred in their writing. As a former English professor at Calvin College and director of its Festival of Faith and Writing, Brown has been in a unique position to listen to voices that, he insists, are preaching up a tempest in resistance to trends in postmodern fiction. He now follows up his first collection of these conversations (Of Fiction and Faith) with 10 more interviews. Among his tale-tellers with a point are Ron Hansen, Ernest Gaines, Sheri Reynolds, Jan Karon, Silas House and Lee Smith. In gentle discussions, Brown investigates the wellsprings of their writing: while not all of the authors identify themselves as Christians, they reflect at length on being storytellers and seekers of meaning through the lives of their characters. Of particular interest are those who write from a strong sense of place, particularly the South. Brown is an enthusiastic and knowledgeable interviewer. Although some of the discussions are so specific they may be hard to follow for readers unfamiliar with the writers' works in question, this warmhearted collection capably introduces readers to new authors and illuminates the inherent tensions serious writers face in tackling spiritual themes. (Mar.)
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Product Details

• Paperback: 318 pages
• Publisher: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (April 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802862284
• ISBN-13: 978-0802862280
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,006,368 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Literary Detective Explores the Spiritual Stories Behind the Novels, July 15, 2008

By 

David Crumm "Editor of ReadTheSpirit magazine" (Canton, Michigan) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Conversations with American Writers: The Doubt, the Faith, the In-Between (Paperback)

Dale Brown - and, no, this is not the Dale Brown who writes military thrillers - has dedicated his life to exploring the spiritual lives of America's literary greats. For decades as a Professor of English at Calvin College in the Midwest, Dale developed this vocation until a Who's Who of major writers were joining the pilgrim's path to Calvin once or twice a year to participate in Dale's creative - and sometimes provocative -- festivals of faith and writing.

You may have his earlier volume on your shelf already, "Of Fiction and Faith." That's a wonderful collection of Dale's earlier interviews with writers. I've often pulled my copy down from the shelf to recall how this author - or that author - turned a particular phrase about our vocations as writers. That first volume included some big-time heavyweights in the mix: Frederick Buechner, Garrison Keillor and Walter Wangerin among them.

In his new volume, there are a couple of popularly celebrated names - Philip Gulley and Jan Karon in particular are sometimes tagged with the adjective "beloved" and their novels show up in people's living rooms wherever I wander these days. But, I recommend this new collection of Dale's interviews not so much for Gulley or Karon - but as a kind of skeleton key unlocking the spiritual stories behind the novels of some really interesting writers who have not become such loveable household names.

The first chapter I read was Dale's conversation with the challenging novelist Ron Hansen - a Catholic writer whose works range from deeply disturbing historical novels, like "Hitler's Niece," to achingly inspirational stories like his new book, "Exiles."

My second choice in the book was the chapter with Ernest Gaines, whose most famous works are "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman" and "A Lesson Before Dying." Born in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, Gaines left the South before his teens. Nevertheless, like so many great Southern writers, he remains rooted in that place.

What Dale is able to pull out of these writers is further guidance from them into the places, the images, the experiences, the spiritual windows that keep pulling and pushing their work.

In the interview with Gaines, here's a passage in which Dale prompts the novelist to describe his Baptist roots. Gaines says, "I was baptized as a Baptist, baptized in the same river that I write about, the same river where we'd fish and wash our clothes. We washed our souls in that same river."

Wow. After reading those words, I feasted for a whole day on that language and imagery.

You won't read this book in a single gulp - but there's much to savor here over time.