Personal Journeys

About the Book

This volume contains nine personal essays on six prominent classic authors written for the average reader who is minimally familiar with the authors, probably just heard of them by name, and who would like an introduction to these literary figures and their works. The authors have been carefully chosen to represent the early classical Italian and British tradition, Dante Alighieri, John Donne, John Milton, and the 20th century British and American tradition, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Evelyn Waugh, Flannery O’Connor.

The underlying argument of the book is that the authors’ Christian faith gave impetus to their creative output. Although all the observations about the authors and their works are fully researched and based on Professor Fiore’s years as professor and critic, a conscious effort has been made to avoid esoteric research problems, and their consequent footnotes, in an effort to present a readable and intimate approach to the writers. The book is ideal for the general reader, the undergraduate student, and the lover of great literature.

About the Author

Peter A. Fiore, a graduate of Siena College and The Catholic University of America, holds a doctorate from London University in England. He is the former Dean of the School of Liberal Arts and Head of the English Department at Siena College. His books on Milton, Milton and Augustine, and Donne, Just So Much Honor, were published by Penn State University Press, and his first collection of essays on Milton by various hands, Th’Upright Heart and Pure, was published by Duquesne University Press. His articles have appeared in The Huntington Library Quarterly, Milton Quarterly, The CEA Critic (The College English Association), Milton Encyclopedia, and Renascence. He is an associate member of the prestigious Milton Seminar and he is listed in the 2000 edition of Who’s Who In America. Professor Fiore is a Franciscan priest of the Province of the Most Holy Name in New York and is currently in English/Communications at Siena College.