A Year with G. K. Chesterton: 365 Days of Wisdom, Wit, and Wonder

Written by Kevin Belmonte

Narrated by Mike Read

"This world of ours has some purpose; and if there is a purpose, there is a Person. I had always felt life first as a story: and if there is a story, there is a Storyteller."

--G. K. Chesterton

During Chesterton's lifetime, a host of perspectives clamored for his attention, but he saw nothing as vital and alive as Christianity. A Year with G. K. Chesterton, a daily devotional dedicated to the life and legacy of G. K. Chesterton, brings this truth into a brand new light.

A true anthology, A Year with G. K. Chesterton compiles the best of Chesterton's many works and presents them in concise, memorable selections. From New Year's Day to New Year's Eve, each daily entry will guide you through:

• A timeless verse from Scripture
• A thoughtful passage from G. K. Chesterton’s incredible body of work
• A moment for reflection and appreciation

Praise for A Year with G. K. Chesterton:

 "Chesterton once a day? Well, that's a start. It is good to see that someone is finally recognizing the need for a daily minimum requirement of mirth and meditation from GKC."

--Dale Ahlquist, President, American Chesterton Society

"Who could not be grateful for a year spent with GKC? The great subverter of everything taken for granted, he stretches and deepens us with his insights, shakes us with his startling paradoxes and delights us with his wit. Thank God there is no getting to the end of Chesterton."

--Os Guinness, author of A Free People's Suicide

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson
• Release date: Apr 18, 2023
• ISBN: 9781599510934

Kevin Belmonte

Kevin Belmonte holds a BA in English Literature and two MA's in Church History and American and New England studies. He is the author of several books including William Wilberforce: A Hero for Humanity and winner of the prestigious John Pollock Award for Christian Biography

Reviews for A Year with G. K. Chesterton

[bravenewbks · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book is a fantastic idea in theory. In fact, I'd like to see a series done, with a book for each of my favorite authors. It's a little like a page-a-day calendar in book form. The entries for each day average a page or less, so five minutes before bed is sufficient to read that day's passages.

The passages each start with a brief Bible verse, usually three lines or less, that relates loosely to the topic of the Chesterton excerpt that follows. My biggest beef, and it's a big one, is that there is ZERO information about these excerpts. The reader isn't told whether it's from a book, or a diary, or a letter, or in what year Chesterton wrote it. This is especially frustrating because Chesterton was a gifted writer with big thoughts, and these excerpts (usually a short paragraph) offer only a tiny snippet of the ideas he was writing about. Anyone interested enough in Chesterton to buy this book is likely to want, occasionally at least, to look up these snippets in their larger context. I reread the preface and acknowledgements three times because I could not believe this information was wholly missing.

It's especially unbelievable given that, following the paragraph excerpt, there are further lines by Chesterton that are attributed.

For example, on August 4, the entry reads like this: He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much. --Luke 16:10 NKJV

To love anything is to see it at once under lowering skies of danger. Loyalty implies loyalty in misfortune.

A Passage from Orthodoxy (1908): Had Christianity felt what I felt, but could not (and cannot) express -- this need for a first loyalty to things, and for a ruinous reform of things? Then I remembered that it was actually the charge against Christianity that it combined these two things which I was wildly trying to combine. Christianity was accused, at one and the same time, of being too optimistic about the universe and of being too pessimistic about the world. The coincidence made me suddenly stand still.
That's it. If I wonder where "loyalty implies loyalty in misfortune" (a nice phrase, by the way) came from, I have no idea. It's possible to assume that it is also from Orthodoxy, but the entry for August 5 contains no attributed supplement at all, so that can't be the case. I just can't imagine why the editor wouldn't have insisted on the quotations being attributed -- it's not only sloppy, but it undermines any claim the book has to being a tool for increasing interest in Chesterton's work.

However, I did enjoy that the book noted on which days something notable happened in Chesterton's life. E.g., on February 8, the book notes that on that day in 1930, Chesterton wrote a letter to the president of the University of Notre Dame [insert mandatory celebration of #1-ranked football team here] containing a dedicatory poem for the university mentioning a golden dome. I loved learning that little factoid.

On the whole, I am glad I received this book and I hope it leads people to explore Chesterton a little bit. But withholding the tools that would make it easier for people to go further in their reading is, in my opinion, utterly inexcusable.

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.