Walker Percy: A Southern Wayfarer

by William Rodney Allen

This perceptive study examines Percy's novels in the light of psychoanalytic theory, philosophy, and literary analysis

184 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1986

About the author

American author and former Professor of English at the Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts. He received his PhD from Duke University, and was a faculty member at LSMSA from the time the school first opened in 1983 until his retirement in 2011. He is married to Cindy Allen, a counselor at the school, and has two daughters, Emily and Claire, with her. He has many interests, which include and are not limited to playing guitar, reading, and cutting down Magnolia trees. He is also a Kurt Vonnegut fan and owns what is believed to be the last thing that Vonnegut wrote before his death in 2007, a postcard addressed to Allen.

Reviews

[Leif · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like is often the case with academic treatments of books and authors I love apart from my academic career, I found much of this to miss the point in a way. The purpose of academic examination in the Humanities is to apply layers of possible perception and interpretation to art, which I support and love -- but that purpose is often at odds with an organic, spontaneous love for a novel or body of work. Taking apart a kaleidoscope can be informative and is sometimes the best thing to do; but sometimes you just wanna look through it and go, "Oooooh."