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Signposts in a Strange Land: Essays
At his death in 1990, Walker Percy left a considerable legacy of uncollected nonfiction. Assembled in Signposts in a Strange Land, these essays on language, literature, philosophy, religion, psychiatry, morality, and life and letters in the South display the imaginative versatility of an author considered by many to be one the greatest modern American writers.
448 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
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About the author
Walker Percy
53 books814 followersWalker Percy was an American writer whose interests included philosophy and semiotics. Percy is noted for his philosophical novels set in and around New Orleans; his first, The Moviegoer, won the National Book Award for Fiction.
Trained as a physician at Columbia University, Percy decided to become a writer after a bout of tuberculosis. He devoted his literary life to the exploration of "the dislocation of man in the modern age." His work displays a combination of existential questioning, Southern sensibility, and deep Catholic faith. He had a lifelong friendship with author and historian Shelby Foote and spent much of his life in Covington, Louisiana, where he died of prostate cancer in 1990.
Trained as a physician at Columbia University, Percy decided to become a writer after a bout of tuberculosis. He devoted his literary life to the exploration of "the dislocation of man in the modern age." His work displays a combination of existential questioning, Southern sensibility, and deep Catholic faith. He had a lifelong friendship with author and historian Shelby Foote and spent much of his life in Covington, Louisiana, where he died of prostate cancer in 1990.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
March 17, 2022
“Zoltan Abadi-Nagy: Is there any concrete issue that engages your attention most in connection with what is going on in America at the moment (i.e. 1987)?
Walker Percy: Probably the fear of seeing America, with all its great strength and beauty and freedom- “Now in these dread latter days of the old violent beloved U.S.A.,” and so on- gradually subside into decay through default and be defeated, not by the Communist movement, demonstrably a bankrupt system, but from within by weariness, boredom, cynicism, greed, and in the end helplessness before its great problems.”, p. 393
Walker Percy: Probably the fear of seeing America, with all its great strength and beauty and freedom- “Now in these dread latter days of the old violent beloved U.S.A.,” and so on- gradually subside into decay through default and be defeated, not by the Communist movement, demonstrably a bankrupt system, but from within by weariness, boredom, cynicism, greed, and in the end helplessness before its great problems.”, p. 393
May 19, 2015
I remember that this book made it okay to experience occasional, or sometimes not occassional, alienation or isolation. It's okay to be who I am.
November 23, 2016
A more or less complete look at the man's way of approaching the world. Sometimes repetitive, sometimes too scientifically technical for the layman but on the whole, a decidedly readable collection of essays. Percy knows something is wrong with modernity in the West but hasn't made the leap to full illiberalism. He is not a quietist, but is no activist either. My favorite topics of his are the necessity of being Catholic, the role of science influencing morality, and on writing.
February 3, 2025
A man of his time (fair warning about the use of the n word and unfiltered discussion about abortion), writing far beyond this time. That's what it is to journey with Percy as he fleshes out the ideas that follow him through his life and writings.
This befits the seeming contradiction that defines much of who he is, not least which is the scientist turned catholic, not to mention his constant straddling the line between conservative and liberally minded positions that is bound to tick off people on either side a polarizing fence.
Every once in a while you come across someone for whom you experience an immediate affinity. They ask the questions you are asking, express ideas that share a language with your own, and help to put in to words much of what's in your own head. Percy is one of those voices for me. This set of essays continues his interests in the nature of writing, the identity of the American south and the southern writer, the nature of language, the relationship between theology and science. Not all essays are equal, and some of it simply repeats the same discussions and ideas as it goes on, but as a collection this is worth the investment.
The first part is about life in the south, which reads almost like a travel book, meandering between humor, insight and at times veering on the profound and prophetic given the continuing shape of history. He has a way of describing a place while incorporating these specific lines of thoughts and ideas as he goes. His musings about his hometown of Covington as a place inbeteeen cultures and ideas is especially indicative of these elements. An entire chapter on Bourbon might be his most amusing.
Later sections walk through the relationship of science and literature, noting how both of these ways of knowing need each other to say anything at all about the world, and specifically about the nature of man. Here his potent critique of modernism shines through, leading into a section on morality and religion.
A man with big ideas, but ideas that apply in specific and contained ways to the different facets of his life. I think his assessment of modernism is most astute, as is his argument for language as the means of bridging the ongoing dialogue between science and faith. I also found his analysis of the southern viewpoint and identity helpful, including his intentional efforts to distinguish between the sins of a nation (slavery) and the true southern identity and character that unfortunately gets collapsed into it (I do that all the time). The inroad to distinguishing between these two things? The southern writer. Percy, for me, is a great place to start.
This befits the seeming contradiction that defines much of who he is, not least which is the scientist turned catholic, not to mention his constant straddling the line between conservative and liberally minded positions that is bound to tick off people on either side a polarizing fence.
Every once in a while you come across someone for whom you experience an immediate affinity. They ask the questions you are asking, express ideas that share a language with your own, and help to put in to words much of what's in your own head. Percy is one of those voices for me. This set of essays continues his interests in the nature of writing, the identity of the American south and the southern writer, the nature of language, the relationship between theology and science. Not all essays are equal, and some of it simply repeats the same discussions and ideas as it goes on, but as a collection this is worth the investment.
The first part is about life in the south, which reads almost like a travel book, meandering between humor, insight and at times veering on the profound and prophetic given the continuing shape of history. He has a way of describing a place while incorporating these specific lines of thoughts and ideas as he goes. His musings about his hometown of Covington as a place inbeteeen cultures and ideas is especially indicative of these elements. An entire chapter on Bourbon might be his most amusing.
Later sections walk through the relationship of science and literature, noting how both of these ways of knowing need each other to say anything at all about the world, and specifically about the nature of man. Here his potent critique of modernism shines through, leading into a section on morality and religion.
A man with big ideas, but ideas that apply in specific and contained ways to the different facets of his life. I think his assessment of modernism is most astute, as is his argument for language as the means of bridging the ongoing dialogue between science and faith. I also found his analysis of the southern viewpoint and identity helpful, including his intentional efforts to distinguish between the sins of a nation (slavery) and the true southern identity and character that unfortunately gets collapsed into it (I do that all the time). The inroad to distinguishing between these two things? The southern writer. Percy, for me, is a great place to start.
May 14, 2025
What a book! Which is full of essays. They were written by a man named Walker Percy, and he had opinions, which he sought fit to share. I enjoyed it very much and you should not waste your time with it at all.
April 6, 2018
Having read two of Walker Percy's novels, Lancelot and The Moviegoer, I found it refreshing to get a taste of his nonfiction work. Here is the voice of a great (Southern) writer sharing his views on religion, race, morality, and philosophy. I have a particular affinity with Percy as we are both alumni of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
I took three separate passages from three essays, one on race, one on politics, and one on religion and morality (issues all inevitably intertwined). Although they were written over 50 years ago (yesterday was the anniversary of MLK Jr.'s assassination), their central messages still ring true.
1) "The South has gotten rich and the North has gotten Negroes and the Negro is treated badly in both places. The Northerners won and freed the slaves and now are fleeing to the suburbs to get away from them."
This first passage is from a 1961 essay about "Life in the South", and it accurately captures the different modes of racism that existed then and still exist today. Having grown up in North Carolina but lived in Chicago for nearly a decade, I've witnessed both. Southern racism is more vocal, but Northern racism, while quieter, is just as real. Ironically, the South has achieved more integration (despite hatefully pursuing segregation for so many years), while the North (especially Chicago) has maintained an extreme level of structural segregation.
2) "The Southern moderate, let us say, is a man of good will who is aware of the seriousness of the problem, is searching for a solution, but disagrees that the solution is simple and can be effected overnight. From the point of view of either Marvin Griffin or the NAACP, the solution is relatively simple. One sees it simply as a question of obeying the law, and failing this, of enforcing the law. The other sees it simply as a question of leaving to the states the rights guaranteed them by the Constitution; in short, of letting us alone."
Percy wrote this in 1957, but one could see it being written today to describe the Trump Effect we saw in 2016. It's stalwart social conservatism and identity politics in a nutshell. The truth is usually somewhere in the middle. As a society, we have to unite and compromise, and recognize the similar humanity in each of us. That is how we will improve. It won't happen by butting heads over extreme ideologies.
3) While no serious novelist knows for sure where his writing comes from. I have the strongest feeling that, whatever else the benefits of the Catholic faith, it is of a particularly felicitous use to the novelist. Indeed, if one had to design a religion for novelists, I can think of no better. What distinguishes Judeo-Christianity in general from other world religions is its emphasis on the value of the individual person, its view of man as a creature in trouble, seeking to get out of it, and accordingly on the move. Add to this anthropology, the special marks of the Catholic Church: the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, which, whatever else they do, confer the highest significance upon the ordinary things of this world, bread, wine, water, touch, breath, words, talking, listening--and what do you have? You have a man in a predicament and on the move in a real world of real things, a world which is a sacrament and a mystery; a pilgrim whose life is a searching and a finding."
Yes. There is so much beauty in the ordinary and simple.
I took three separate passages from three essays, one on race, one on politics, and one on religion and morality (issues all inevitably intertwined). Although they were written over 50 years ago (yesterday was the anniversary of MLK Jr.'s assassination), their central messages still ring true.
1) "The South has gotten rich and the North has gotten Negroes and the Negro is treated badly in both places. The Northerners won and freed the slaves and now are fleeing to the suburbs to get away from them."
This first passage is from a 1961 essay about "Life in the South", and it accurately captures the different modes of racism that existed then and still exist today. Having grown up in North Carolina but lived in Chicago for nearly a decade, I've witnessed both. Southern racism is more vocal, but Northern racism, while quieter, is just as real. Ironically, the South has achieved more integration (despite hatefully pursuing segregation for so many years), while the North (especially Chicago) has maintained an extreme level of structural segregation.
2) "The Southern moderate, let us say, is a man of good will who is aware of the seriousness of the problem, is searching for a solution, but disagrees that the solution is simple and can be effected overnight. From the point of view of either Marvin Griffin or the NAACP, the solution is relatively simple. One sees it simply as a question of obeying the law, and failing this, of enforcing the law. The other sees it simply as a question of leaving to the states the rights guaranteed them by the Constitution; in short, of letting us alone."
Percy wrote this in 1957, but one could see it being written today to describe the Trump Effect we saw in 2016. It's stalwart social conservatism and identity politics in a nutshell. The truth is usually somewhere in the middle. As a society, we have to unite and compromise, and recognize the similar humanity in each of us. That is how we will improve. It won't happen by butting heads over extreme ideologies.
3) While no serious novelist knows for sure where his writing comes from. I have the strongest feeling that, whatever else the benefits of the Catholic faith, it is of a particularly felicitous use to the novelist. Indeed, if one had to design a religion for novelists, I can think of no better. What distinguishes Judeo-Christianity in general from other world religions is its emphasis on the value of the individual person, its view of man as a creature in trouble, seeking to get out of it, and accordingly on the move. Add to this anthropology, the special marks of the Catholic Church: the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, which, whatever else they do, confer the highest significance upon the ordinary things of this world, bread, wine, water, touch, breath, words, talking, listening--and what do you have? You have a man in a predicament and on the move in a real world of real things, a world which is a sacrament and a mystery; a pilgrim whose life is a searching and a finding."
Yes. There is so much beauty in the ordinary and simple.
November 7, 2022
Walker Percy's "Signposts in a Strange Land: Essays" is a collection of essays, letters, and forwards Percy wrote throughout his life but with a focus on the South, on writing/ novels, and on the Catholic Church. His view of the South is interesting, he believes that America was/ is going down the tubes and that the South is in a unique place to save it. His views on writing and novels was really good and expressed, in a larger view, some of my own views in a better expressed way. Primarily, that a good work of writing is more than a good story and seeks to say something. He also develops a theory that words have become overused, such as love, and his work is an attempt, like O'Connor, to shock his readers. The Catholic section wasn't very expansive so he didn't say a whole lot about it, don't really know why it was included. I didn't enjoy this collection quite as much because each section had like 10-15 essays but after 3, the main idea had been explored. The remaining essays simply restated Percy's main themes in longer or shorter essays. It became quite a drag and led to many glazed eyes. His treatment of the South and Catholicism were also veiled in a kind of triumphant conservatism of the 70's/ 80's that never materialized. His confidence in the South, in particular, really came across as looking through rose colored glasses. There was a throwaway comment about how the seminaries might be struggling now but soon they'll be full. Stuff like that didn't detract from the essays, but it was funny. The writing section was phenomenal, however, and I enjoyed his perspective on these ideas on the whole.
July 10, 2018
Is there any better southern writer than Walker Percy? A writer to measure your life by.....when you read him and how it changed you.....
November 28, 2025
"Why Are You a Catholic" is one of the best essays I've ever read.
May 24, 2019
I am convinced that there is no such thing as a bad book, only bad timing.
More often than not I fail the book, not the other way around.
I must admit that I have failed several Walker Percy books up until now. Moviegoer is one. Love in the Ruins the other. I even failed Signposts, picking it up and putting down several times. It didn’t help that the first section of essays is “Life in the South.” Just didn’t do it for me. But once I lumbered up to his essays on “Science, Language and Literature,” my intellectual and creative life was turned upside down.
A colleague and cousin of mine have tried to tell me. This guy celebrates the ordinary as I celebrate it on the blog. I finally discovered how and why, and then had to humbly submit how much better he is at capturing the importance of embracing the everyday-ness of life.
I won’t bore you with my poor regurgitation of his philosophical insights, but there is one notion of his I think I could do a fair job paraphrasing in order to entice you to read more Percy: scientism. Scientism, according to Percy, is not the belief in science, per say, but the wholehearted devotion to all the perks that a scientifically advanced society has to offer. It is enjoying flicking the switch at two locations without understanding how a three-way switch operates. As modern humans, we passively submit to the spoils of science. And this does a number on our ability to imagine the divine and appreciate the beautiful.
Percy describes with great clarity the misery inherent in modern living—a theory of alienation that began, Percy argues, at the onset of World War I when mankind first began to gleefully destroy itself. He captures paradox with facility--here we are, in the bloodiest century in history, and people are nicer than ever.
Reading his collected essays in one go has certainly changed my worldview, or, at least, helped me see my own beliefs more clearly. One particular essay toward the end of the collection, “Another Message in a Bottle” accurately pinned down where teaching, reading, and writing collide. He put to words some hunches that have taken me 10 years to begin to sort out.
And rather than be disappointed that I could have been way more into Percy years ago when he was first recommended to me, I left the collection enriched for knowing that I am not alone in my many pet theories on the miseries of modern man.
More often than not I fail the book, not the other way around.
I must admit that I have failed several Walker Percy books up until now. Moviegoer is one. Love in the Ruins the other. I even failed Signposts, picking it up and putting down several times. It didn’t help that the first section of essays is “Life in the South.” Just didn’t do it for me. But once I lumbered up to his essays on “Science, Language and Literature,” my intellectual and creative life was turned upside down.
A colleague and cousin of mine have tried to tell me. This guy celebrates the ordinary as I celebrate it on the blog. I finally discovered how and why, and then had to humbly submit how much better he is at capturing the importance of embracing the everyday-ness of life.
I won’t bore you with my poor regurgitation of his philosophical insights, but there is one notion of his I think I could do a fair job paraphrasing in order to entice you to read more Percy: scientism. Scientism, according to Percy, is not the belief in science, per say, but the wholehearted devotion to all the perks that a scientifically advanced society has to offer. It is enjoying flicking the switch at two locations without understanding how a three-way switch operates. As modern humans, we passively submit to the spoils of science. And this does a number on our ability to imagine the divine and appreciate the beautiful.
Percy describes with great clarity the misery inherent in modern living—a theory of alienation that began, Percy argues, at the onset of World War I when mankind first began to gleefully destroy itself. He captures paradox with facility--here we are, in the bloodiest century in history, and people are nicer than ever.
Reading his collected essays in one go has certainly changed my worldview, or, at least, helped me see my own beliefs more clearly. One particular essay toward the end of the collection, “Another Message in a Bottle” accurately pinned down where teaching, reading, and writing collide. He put to words some hunches that have taken me 10 years to begin to sort out.
And rather than be disappointed that I could have been way more into Percy years ago when he was first recommended to me, I left the collection enriched for knowing that I am not alone in my many pet theories on the miseries of modern man.
April 14, 2020
I loved [The Moviegoer] and [Love in the Ruins] and have been planning to reread them. I picked up this tome as a freebie on the library give-away shelf and it sat on my shelves a long while. I don't know why I persisted in reading these essays, for pretty much every one was on the same few themes. C.S. Lewis another convert to Catholicism wrote about his need and experience vividly, Percy dabbles around the edges. He is wearisomely and relentlessly a man of his literary generation, so entirely male-centric, and so oblivious to anything about women, women's lives, and women's literature -- the only woman writer he ever even mentions is Joan Didion! Are you kidding me? Oh and did I mention that he is a southern writer? He contradicts himself often, as in, there is no southern culture anymore, only a memory of one, but then writes essay after essay that seems to explore at least the remnants of southerness in writers. As a southern Christian he acknowledges that white southern Christians have a spotty record vis a vis racism, at the same time he scorning the northern liberals, but then admits it wass the Sarah Lawrence sociology majors who came south to sign up black voters. I can't go near his anti-abortion reasoning, I found his argument so emotional and so bizarre and so insensitive to women's issues (which he mentions with scorn) (and I don't have a black and white, all or nothing view on the subject, recognize that there are profound issues that require those now scorned words: compromise, compassion, and good common sense). He scorns the novel as entertainment and sees that its primary virtue is explaining and illuminating the condition of man. I don't totally disagree with that only I don't feel a need to belittle the R&R aspect of many novels, healing not searing. The most interesting pieces are about the ideas of Charles Peirce the 19th century philosopher who I've encountered several timess--he is essentially the founder of semiotics and this is the one place where Percy and I are in agreement. The scorning, by the way, is all done so politely but firmly; he's a curmudgeon and a southern gentleman, maddening and full of charm. I'll stick with his novels. **1/2
January 10, 2019
Although I have yet to read his novels, I read Lost in the Cosmos last year and was intrigued - who is this guy? This collection of essays, with topics ranging from Bourbon to Catholicism, was a real blessing. Walker Percy writes genuinely, confidently, and without arrogance. It's clear he isn't an ivory tower intellectual, but he ain't no dummy either. To paraphrase him in one idea, it's this - hang on a minute, where are we? How did we get here? Hence the title of this book.
I'm not going to go through every essay he wrote here, but a few topics interested me in particular - his denouncing of scientism (a mentality that has only grown since his death), interest and commentary on C.S Pierce (who is a criminally underrated intellectual), and also the various Kierkegaardian themes pervading the work. Throughout all his essays there is a dark satirical undertone. He treats serious topics with a well-apportioned dose of humor. However, behind that humor is a deep darkness which everyone drawn to Kierkegaard and St. John of the Cross know all too well.
If I had to complain about anything, it would be that some of the essays are presented without context on who is being addressed or why, but that is a minor issue. If you're interested at all in the topics mentioned above, or any sort of commentary on the South in general, I'd recommend picking this one up.
I'm not going to go through every essay he wrote here, but a few topics interested me in particular - his denouncing of scientism (a mentality that has only grown since his death), interest and commentary on C.S Pierce (who is a criminally underrated intellectual), and also the various Kierkegaardian themes pervading the work. Throughout all his essays there is a dark satirical undertone. He treats serious topics with a well-apportioned dose of humor. However, behind that humor is a deep darkness which everyone drawn to Kierkegaard and St. John of the Cross know all too well.
If I had to complain about anything, it would be that some of the essays are presented without context on who is being addressed or why, but that is a minor issue. If you're interested at all in the topics mentioned above, or any sort of commentary on the South in general, I'd recommend picking this one up.
August 26, 2020
If anyone has any doubts that Walker Percy was a contankerous individual, they need to read the final essay in this collection, a self-interview. That contrary spirit runs throughout this book. However, he was not a simple cynic--believed passionately. His work starts with the question of how one should live in the midst of this world which seems to trivialize any human striving or achievement, and the essays in this volume wrestle with that topic, sometimes suggesting answers, sometimes just highlighting the urgency of the questions. Dostoyevsky and Kierkegaard are clearly important to him.
This volume features essays in three broad categories: Life in the South; Science, Language, and Literature; and Morality and Religion. All three were very important to him and his perspective is insightful, even if one disagrees.
This volume features essays in three broad categories: Life in the South; Science, Language, and Literature; and Morality and Religion. All three were very important to him and his perspective is insightful, even if one disagrees.
August 4, 2024
I'll never be the writer Walker Percy was, but I've fought the very same creative battles. (All writers do.) This book was, essentially, a college course about the nature, value, challenges, and pain of writing . . . particularly in an age when fewer and fewer people read. (Note that Percy died in 1990. So this reality has worsened, not improved.) The book frustrates at times, as Percy writes/speaks beyond the reach of most readers/thinkers (certainly this one). But the collection ends with a flourish, "Questions They Never Asked Me." A self-interview may be the only honest way to reach both the mind and heart of a great writer.
July 11, 2019
Great series of essays by Walker Percy that are divided into three themes: The South, writing and literature, and philosophical inquiries. The great thing about this book is that one can pick up and read an essay at any point and be immersed into a great topical theme (personal favorite is when he discusses the nature of Bourbon whiskey!!) However, when read through, a reader will notice common thought patterns that consistently emerged through Percy's life that obviously is relavent in his novels as well.
January 5, 2020
I was a little underwhelmed after seeing some of the hype (e.g. Russell Moore named it as one of the 7 most important books in his life), but still an enjoyable read. I particularly enjoyed his thoughts on Christianity as the ultimate foundation for good storytelling and science’s inability to give man meaning (“the more science progressed, and even as it benefited man, the less it said about what it’s like to be a man living in the world”).
December 9, 2019
Some of the essays were very dated but Percy is a good writer regardless. I wish I would have been motivated to read this when I was assigned his books in college, great insights. But, his thoughts on semiotics & the uniqueness of symbols/language to mankind are fascinating.
August 16, 2024
really loved the literature section. the other two weren't that interesting. and oh my heart, the foreword essay to A Confederacy of Dunces, one of my very favorite novels. "gargantuan tumultuous human tragicomedy" love this so much.
August 22, 2024
In college, I was introduced to the work of Walker Percy. This collection of essays has some of my favorites in it. Here are my favorites: Is a Theory of Man Possible? Naming and Being, The State of the Novel: Dying Art or New Science? Novel-Writing in an Apocalyptic Time.
January 13, 2018
Fabulous stuff. Interesting to read some of these "dated" essays. Had I read more Percy, I'd appreciate more of what he writes here. I'd compare this book to O'Connor's Mystery and Manners.
August 19, 2019
I love this thread! I am always so worried about spoiling the book that my reviews are usually just a few sentences and basically pointless. lol Thanks for all of your input!
May 18, 2021
It is amazing that his writings of 30, 40 and 50 years ago were spot on and not much has changed as to the state of race relations, politics, religion, etc.
February 6, 2022
Excellent thoughts from an excellent writer and human being
April 27, 2022
Disappointing. Rather dull book by an otherwise excellent writer. There are some good pieces, but unfortunately, much of the content is outdated, dull, and overly scholastic.
July 26, 2012
The pieces (essays, articles, pamphlets, lectures) are divided into three sections:
(1) Life in the South
(2) Science, Language, and Literature
(3) Morality and Religion
- Plus an introduction from the editor, Patrick Samway
- And an Epilogue, with Percy's Paris Review interview (1987) and the brilliant self-interview he published in Esquire (1977)
I'm glad to have the texts collected in one piece, and for the most part (size, type face, spacing, etc) the volume is easy on the eyes. Thanks are particularly due to Fr Samway for giving us the painting from Percy's living room, described in the self-interview, on the front cover! But it must be said that the first section wearies. Not absolutely: "Why I Live Where I Live," and "New Orleans Mon Amour" are fine. The two pieces on his cousin, as well as "Stoicism in the South," have the special value of illuminating the novels. "A Southern View" has the merit of keen polemic. And oh, the "Bourbon" essay is immortal. Beyond these, I suspect the general reader will find little of particular interest. (Note: I recently read the 27 interviews collected in Conversations with Walker Percy [1985] -- a book I enjoyed very much -- but it may have skewn my judgment, here.)
The second section is a different story. Not the least of its virtues is the redemption of the less interesting pieces in section one. "Is a Theory of Man Possible?" and "The Fateful Rift," the first and last in this section, neatly and memorably provide Percy's take on Charles Peirce. The three pieces on the writer's vocation are great, both as commentary on his own writing and as a foundation for general literary criticism ("art is cognitive" and "exploratory," even "scientific"). Then there are the refreshing essay-reviews on Melville, Welty, Toole, Chekhov, and Miller. The 1935 takedown of movie magazines is, perhaps naturally, weaker and meaner than his later writing, but it has, as he says elsewhere, "occasional splendid passages." Of chief interest to me are the autobiographical chapters ("From Facts to Fiction" and "Physician as Novelist"), and the two chapters that focus entirely on his own writings: the National Book Award acceptance speech for THE MOVIEGOER, and the NBA 'preview' of LOVE IN THE RUINS.
Section three is shorter and, perhaps surprisingly, more poignant and serious. Percy is curiously reticent and forthright (i.e., offensive) regarding Catholicism.
(1) Life in the South
(2) Science, Language, and Literature
(3) Morality and Religion
- Plus an introduction from the editor, Patrick Samway
- And an Epilogue, with Percy's Paris Review interview (1987) and the brilliant self-interview he published in Esquire (1977)
I'm glad to have the texts collected in one piece, and for the most part (size, type face, spacing, etc) the volume is easy on the eyes. Thanks are particularly due to Fr Samway for giving us the painting from Percy's living room, described in the self-interview, on the front cover! But it must be said that the first section wearies. Not absolutely: "Why I Live Where I Live," and "New Orleans Mon Amour" are fine. The two pieces on his cousin, as well as "Stoicism in the South," have the special value of illuminating the novels. "A Southern View" has the merit of keen polemic. And oh, the "Bourbon" essay is immortal. Beyond these, I suspect the general reader will find little of particular interest. (Note: I recently read the 27 interviews collected in Conversations with Walker Percy [1985] -- a book I enjoyed very much -- but it may have skewn my judgment, here.)
The second section is a different story. Not the least of its virtues is the redemption of the less interesting pieces in section one. "Is a Theory of Man Possible?" and "The Fateful Rift," the first and last in this section, neatly and memorably provide Percy's take on Charles Peirce. The three pieces on the writer's vocation are great, both as commentary on his own writing and as a foundation for general literary criticism ("art is cognitive" and "exploratory," even "scientific"). Then there are the refreshing essay-reviews on Melville, Welty, Toole, Chekhov, and Miller. The 1935 takedown of movie magazines is, perhaps naturally, weaker and meaner than his later writing, but it has, as he says elsewhere, "occasional splendid passages." Of chief interest to me are the autobiographical chapters ("From Facts to Fiction" and "Physician as Novelist"), and the two chapters that focus entirely on his own writings: the National Book Award acceptance speech for THE MOVIEGOER, and the NBA 'preview' of LOVE IN THE RUINS.
Section three is shorter and, perhaps surprisingly, more poignant and serious. Percy is curiously reticent and forthright (i.e., offensive) regarding Catholicism.
June 8, 2013
I had a dream where I was finishing a review of this book and the computer deleted all but the first two sentences. Let's hope for the best here.
Percy's one of my favorite writers but this collection is a bit unbalanced. Consisting primarily of essays on a variety of topics, it can give a great insight into the way the man conceived of the world but wasn't really arranged all that well. Some of the pieces had the date at the end, some didn't (though all the pieces were dated in the appendix). Outside of grouping by general subject they didn't seem to be arranged in any other order, which is a shame. It would've been nice to see the way in which his ideas and his expressions thereof evolved over the years. Also, though I know these pieces were likely never intended to be published in one volume, he utilizes many of the same points time and time again. In each circumstance they were no doubt appropriate, but taken as a whole volume the points can become repetitive.
Beyond that, Percy's a strange figure. So militantly moderate that a great deal of what he says is really easy for somebody on the lefty/progressive/PC fascist (pick one) end of the spectrum to agree with and some comes off completely repellent. But even the latter often needs to be taken with a grain of salt. For how cantankerous and conservative he can sometimes seem, he was championing Civil Rights at a time when most white southerners wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole. Similarly, though his religion thoroughly informs his work, he's not really overzealous with pushing it too strongly.
All in all some great pearls of wisdom delivered with a wise humanity in the form of a structurally flawed compilation. Not a bad book, but it's hard to recommend to a Percy novice.
Percy's one of my favorite writers but this collection is a bit unbalanced. Consisting primarily of essays on a variety of topics, it can give a great insight into the way the man conceived of the world but wasn't really arranged all that well. Some of the pieces had the date at the end, some didn't (though all the pieces were dated in the appendix). Outside of grouping by general subject they didn't seem to be arranged in any other order, which is a shame. It would've been nice to see the way in which his ideas and his expressions thereof evolved over the years. Also, though I know these pieces were likely never intended to be published in one volume, he utilizes many of the same points time and time again. In each circumstance they were no doubt appropriate, but taken as a whole volume the points can become repetitive.
Beyond that, Percy's a strange figure. So militantly moderate that a great deal of what he says is really easy for somebody on the lefty/progressive/PC fascist (pick one) end of the spectrum to agree with and some comes off completely repellent. But even the latter often needs to be taken with a grain of salt. For how cantankerous and conservative he can sometimes seem, he was championing Civil Rights at a time when most white southerners wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole. Similarly, though his religion thoroughly informs his work, he's not really overzealous with pushing it too strongly.
All in all some great pearls of wisdom delivered with a wise humanity in the form of a structurally flawed compilation. Not a bad book, but it's hard to recommend to a Percy novice.
June 3, 2012
I found this collection of essays by Walker Percy while searching for an essay quoted in a PBS documentary on his life.
Through books, I had come to know some of his family. John Barry's "Rising Tide" focuses, in part, on his uncles and family in Greenville, MS, in the great flood of 1927. I also read his cousin Shelby Foote's Civil War trilogy (as well as watching his interviews in the PBS series and on Book-TV).
I read a novel of Percy's while in college, but did not have any strong opinions about him.
These essays are excellent, revealing much about himself and his family, but even more about the South (particularly Louisiana, where he spent much of his adult life).
I sporadically return to this collection, particularly the essay on the death of southern stoicism.
Through books, I had come to know some of his family. John Barry's "Rising Tide" focuses, in part, on his uncles and family in Greenville, MS, in the great flood of 1927. I also read his cousin Shelby Foote's Civil War trilogy (as well as watching his interviews in the PBS series and on Book-TV).
I read a novel of Percy's while in college, but did not have any strong opinions about him.
These essays are excellent, revealing much about himself and his family, but even more about the South (particularly Louisiana, where he spent much of his adult life).
I sporadically return to this collection, particularly the essay on the death of southern stoicism.
December 12, 2012
Percy here proves that he is as effective an essayist as he is a novelist. I am a big fan of essay collections because they are pithy, succinct works with little chaff and can be read piecemeal. Percy's examinations of religion, morality, existence, and Southern culture are incisive and thoughtful. Having said all this, even he would argue that the novelist can be more effective than the essayist. "Lost in the Cosmos", given its hybrid narrative-philosophical nature, often demonstrates his views better through their thought experiments. Reading that book first gave me a much better grasp on the themes of "Signposts". I would recommend this book to anyone who appreciates insight and analysis into man's modern plight.
November 6, 2014
Not the place to start with Percy's nonfiction—as a big, exhaustive posthumous collection it repeats itself a lot while discharging its duty of setting every occasional speech to type and commemorating every time Percy introduced his semiotics to an unfamiliar audience.
But if you're interested in the fascinating latter-day Percy only hinted at in Lost in the Cosmos, spying the Weimar doctors behind the sentimental indulgence of every technocrat, this—along with the Thanatos Syndrome—is the place to find him, and reason enough to regret that he lived to see so little of the neoliberal nineties.
But if you're interested in the fascinating latter-day Percy only hinted at in Lost in the Cosmos, spying the Weimar doctors behind the sentimental indulgence of every technocrat, this—along with the Thanatos Syndrome—is the place to find him, and reason enough to regret that he lived to see so little of the neoliberal nineties.
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