Wayfaring: Essays Pleasant and Unpleasant [Paperback]

Alan Jacobs (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 28, 2010

Alan Jacobs is fond of the essay because it lets a writer do something that more formal pieces of writing cannot: follow the “vagaries of the mind,” let the writing follow its own path, encountering surprises and fresh insights along the way.

In this new collection, Jacobs offers essays for companionable wayfaring. To be a Christian, he says, is to be a wayfarer, to move hopefully towards a cherished goal. These essays are a wayfarer’s notes, a record of ideas and experiences encountered on the pilgrim path. Gathered here are pieces serious and comic, eloquent and interesting. Jacobs muses on the usefulness and dangers of blogging, the art of dictionary making, the world of Harry Potter, and an appreciation of trees. He also includes several book reviews, including a wickedly witty poem.

With Wayfaring, Jacobs continues his tradition of exploring Christian theology and experience by way of the essay, bringing serious musings within reach of us all.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Long-form book reviews preponderate in Jacobs' new collection, sharing with the nonreviews the character of the essay established, Jacobs says, by the form's virtual inventor, Montaigne. They ramble or, as Jacobs more sensitively puts it, “acknowledge and accept the vagaries of the mind.” Not that they're diffuse; rather, they're pleasantly expansive, now ringing a relevant personal note, here citing an interesting parallel, there pursuing a rewarding tangent. Jacobs disposes them in two parts, one of articles on writing and works of fiction, poetry, and translation, the other of pieces about extraliterary nonfiction. Particular subjects in the first section include the once-thriving practice of keeping commonplace books, the once-current understanding of what invention in literature and philosophy is, Robert Alter's contemporary Bible translations, Samuel Johnson's great English dictionary, and Harry Potter (whom Jacobs loves). Half of the second section focuses on gardening, trees, and the green movement; the other, on church signboards, the nature of friendship, and trends in the Evangelical Christian community, of which Jacobs is one of the most perspicacious and engaging members. --Ray Olson

Review

“Alan Jacobs’s essays offer a rich feast of intellectual pleasure and ethical nourishment. He combines an alert, sympathetic eye for the novelties of today’s technological and artistic culture with a shrewd and solid sense of their moral and psychological effects. This book is bracing, salutary, witty, and profound — and it’s often all of these things on a single page.”
— Edward Mendelson
Columbia University
author of The Things That Matter

“A good volume of essays is a collection of aesthetically delightful and prismatically informative prose pieces, each short enough to be read at a sitting. There aren’t many such volumes these days, which is a pity. Jacobs’s Wayfaring is one: it exhibits wit, learning, and an ear for the language, and it will give you new loves while deepening those you already have. Do yourself a favor: buy and read.”
— Paul J. Griffiths
Duke Divinity School
author of Intellectual Appetite

“These essays enthrall, enlighten, ennoble, and entertain. There is nothing unpleasant here, so never mind the title. All of these essays are gems, nothing but delight for mind and soul — and body, too, if one takes into account the therapeutic value of laughter and sheer delight.”
— Carlos Eire
Yale University
author of A Very Brief History of Eternity and Waiting for Snow in Havana

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (June 28, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802865682
• ISBN-13: 978-0802865687
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.5 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #958,282 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I grew up in Alabama, attended the University of Alabama, then got my PhD at the University of Virginia. Since 1984 I have been teaching at Wheaton College in Illinois. My dear wife Teri and I have been married for thirty years. Our son Wes begins college this fall, and to our shock, decided to go to Wheaton. I think he will avoid Dad, though.

My work is hard to describe, at least for me, because it revolves around multiple interests, primary among them being literature, theology, and technology. I also watch soccer and write about it, but that's purely recreational.

You can find out a lot more about me online: Twitter, Tumblr, my blog, my home page. Google is the friend of inquiring minds.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Superb Collection July 23, 2010

By kfedl

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Alan Jacobs is in my estimation one of the foremost Christian men of letters around today. I discovered his writing in First Things, and immediately bought and read The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C. S. Lewis (Plus) and Original Sin: A Cultural History. Both are tremendously interesting books as well.

The essays in this collection are primarily from "Books and Culture" and "First Things," both outstanding publications.

I ordered this book as soon as it came out and read through it in a few sittings. Jacobs and the editors and Eerdmans did a tremendous job selecting the essays. Together they form a sort of mind map of the author, and one easily grasps how interconnected the themes addressed really are. Environmental stewardship, the importance of story, the craft of writing, the beauty of language--these topics and many others are woven throughout the collection.

Perhaps what really made the collection for me was Jacob's dry wit. The calmly devastating prose of "Do-It-Yourself Tradition," "Blessed are the Green of Heart," "A Relgion for Atheists," and "On the Recent Publication of Kahlil Gibran's Collected Works" is worth the price of admission.

But Jacobs is a multifaceted writer, and the essays like "The Youngest Brother's Tale" and "The End of Friendship" are beautiful and insightful reflections, in their different ways, on what it is to be human.

So buy the book already.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Includes book reviews, a poem, and a foundation in Christian exploration November 18, 2010

By Midwest Book Review

Format:Paperback

Wayfaring: Essays Pleasant and Unpleasant offers a new collection of writings for wayfaring, offering a Christian perspective on letting writing reveal fresh insights into spiritual reflection and the modern world. From blogging to Harry Potter and more, this includes book reviews, a poem, and a foundation in Christian exploration.

5.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful Essays May 4, 2013

By Barry Barnett

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

A collection of essays that cover a variety of topics -- some serious, others quite humorous, but all very thoughtful. The subtitle is taken from George Bernard Shaw's "Plays Pleasant and Unpleasant" but rest assured there is nothing unpleasant in this volume. Regular readers of "First Things" or "Books & Culture" will recognize some essays which first appeared in those publications. Jacobs, a professor of English at Wheaton College for many years, will begin teaching in the Honors Program at Baylor University in fall of 2013.