Signposts in a Strange Land: Essays

Picador, April 2000. Paper Back. Very Good. In a portrait of Walker Percy made by Lyn Hill, the author stands outside the frame of a barbed and twisted (somewhat otherwordly) tree, his arms crossed over his chest with his head cocked to one side, an almost malicious twinkle in his eye. Above, the sky swirls mysteriously, forecasting storms or some worse calamity. Commenting on the portrait in a quirky self-interview, 'Questions They Never Asked Me,' Percy essentially invites the reader to explore this peculiar world and others like it: 'You and I know something, don't we? Or do we?.True, this is a strange world I'm in, but what about the world you're in? Have you noticed it lately? Are we onto something, you and I? Probably not.' As the personal essay was Percy's breakthrough into the world of publishing, <i>Signposts In a Strange Land</i> is a stimulating chronicle of the author's philosophical thought and the process through which he became a consummate novelist. The book's construction follows Percy's most consistent themes and is divided into three parts: Life In the South; Science, Language, Literature; and Morality and Religion. Throughout, he synthesizes a wide body of knowledge, including his own experience from medicine and science, to piece together a philosophy of man. Ultimately, Percy leans heaviest on the humanities and his Catholic faith to address the fundamental nature of humanity-'a man 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.' 428 pp. Tight binding. Clean, unmarked text. Exterior in excellent condition. Two pages previously dog-eared.