Faith Rising--Between the Lines: Intimations of Faith Embedded in Modern Fiction

This writing intends to rouse would-be believers to faith—or enhance the faith of others—through the adventure of modern fiction. While taking note of the secularity of our era, the author insists the Spirit of God has not departed the scene.
The opening poem by Emily Dickinson, “Tell all the truth but tell it slant,” proposes the author’s contention that the “indirect discourse” of fictional writers may welcome readers to faith’s door in ways sermonic speech never did.
The modern authors chosen for this purpose are Izak Dinesen, Annie Dillard, Kent Haruf, Loren Eiseley, Gary Trudeau, Garrison Keillor, William Golding, Walker Percy, Frederick Buechner, and Gabriel Marcel.
Having explained one work each by these noted authors, the book closes by pointing to ways in which embedded faith may rise out of these pages to meet the reader where he or she lives.

The Rev. David B. Bowman, PhD, lives in semi-retirement in Saratoga, California. He is the author of a previous book, Saints Along the Way: Women and Men Who Have Influenced My Life. His parish ministry, following doctoral studies at Glasgow University (Scotland), has spanned the continent from New York to California, including Michigan, Washington State, Iowa, Indiana, and Ohio. Such a journey led a friend to call him "a wanderer in the earth."