Stay Against Confusion

<p><strong>Erudite and meditative <em>A Stay Against Confusion. . . </em>depicts a profound complex spirituality. . . brims with intelligence passion and conviction. --<em>San Francisco Chronicle</em></strong></p><p>In this vivid and deeply felt collection of essays Ron Hansen talks about his novels childhood family and mentors such as John Gardner. He explores prayer stigmata twentieth-century martyrs and the Eucharist. A profile of his grandfather a tough-as-nails brook-no-guff Colorado rancher finds a place alongside a wonderfully informative portrait of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. A brilliant reading of a story by Leo Tolstoy follows an appreciation of the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins.<br/></p><p>Surprisingly intimate <em>A Stay Against Confusion</em> brings together the literary and religious impulses that inform the life of one of our most gifted fiction writers.</p>