Includes bibliographical references (pages 200-211) and index.
Contents:
The half-hearted and the corrupt: Graham Greene and Flannery O'Connor -- Present God: the fiction of Walker Percy and Andre Dubus -- Cultural piety: Don DeLillo's Catholicism without belief -- God in the machine: Thomas Pynchon -- A story of the body: Toni Morrison -- A violent testament: Cormac McCarthy -- Two cultures, two faiths: Louise Erdrich -- Literary faith in a secular age.
Summary:
"Longing for an Absent God unveils the powerful role of faith and doubt in the American literary tradition. Nick Ripatrazone explores how two major strands of Catholic writers -- practicing and cultural -- intertwine and sustain each other. Ripatrazone explores the writings of devout American Catholic writers in the years before the Second Vatican Council through the work of Flannery O'Connor, J. F. Powers, and Walker Percy; those who were raised Catholic but drifted from the church, such as the Catholic-educated Don DeLillo and Cormac McCarthy, the convert Toni Morrison, the Mass-going Thomas Pynchon, and the ritual-driven Louise Erdrich; and a new crop of faithful American Catholic writers, including Ron Hansen, Phil Klay, and Alice McDermott, who write Catholic stories for our contemporary world. These critically acclaimed and award-winning voices illustrate that Catholic storytelling is innately powerful and appealing to both secular and religious audiences. Longing for an Absent God demonstrates the profound differences in the storytelling styles and results of these two groups of major writers -- but ultimately shows how, taken together, they offer a rich and unique American literary tradition that spans the full spectrum of doubt and faith." -- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.