Chesterton's Tavern: A Great Writer's Thoughts on Life and Things of Wisdom

If we sat down with Chesterton in a tavern today, he would say very much the same things he said one hundred years ago.

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At a time when intellectuals and politicians were all telling the world that science had advanced us beyond Christianity, an enormously fat man in a cape with a walking stick laughed at them and refuted them with brilliant prose and witty one-liners.

Chesterton’s Tavern imagines what Chesterton would talk about if he were at ease in an English pub (which in fact is something he did enjoy doing). Kevin Belmonte shows that Chesterton’s insights are as true today as they were then. Chesterton was equally comfortable talking about fiction, myths, fairy tales, history, science, politics, and theology, because he saw them all as part of the strange world God had given us.

In Christ, everything holds together, and so we should not be surprised at the strangeness of the world or the strangeness of the Christian faith. So sit back and let Chesterton regale you with his wisdom. You will come away wiser.

What People Are Saying

“The tavern plays an important place in the history of literature, theology and ideas. Chesterton’s Tavern, as appropriately portrayed by historian Kevin Belmonte, is a homely place, comfortably situated for a refreshing and truly restorative introduction to the wisdom, wit, and remarkably relevant vision of Gilbert Keith Chesterton. Belmonte’s short but satisfyingly deep draft of vintage Chesterton can help us see that the essayist, critic, novelist, poet and popular theologian is for the ages. This book captures how Chesterton somehow carries no less than the wonder and secret of the universe in his farsighted yet down-to-earth paradoxes, parables and observations.” —Colin Duriez, author of The Oxford Inklings and Tolkien and C.S. Lewis: The Gift of Friendship

“Kevin Belmonte has given us, in this slim yet robust volume, a warm welcome to join a conversation in medias res at the Fleet Street Tavern with that master of conviviality, G.K. Chesterton. With characteristic intellect, wit, and tender heart, GKC invites us to sit, raise a flagon, and join the conversation of the ages—resisting our addiction to the zeitgeist of “progress” and to learn from the wisdom of tradition. Yet Belmonte is not offering a notion of tradition as a thing preserved in amber, but a living spirit of love and truth and wonder. With GKC acting as his spokesman, the writer offers us a genuine glimpse of this great man’s vision—The Tavern at the End of the World—wherein all are friends, all raise a glass, all celebrate the greatest joy: the childlike love of God and the great surprise that Truth is a far more wondrous thing than even the wildest fictions can evoke.” —Bruce Herman, Lothlorien Distinguished Chair in Fine Arts, Gordon College

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Kevin Belmonte is the author of Defiant Joy: The Remarkable Life and Impact of G. K. Chesterton and William Wilberforce: A Hero for Humanity, which won the John Pollock Award. He also served as lead historical consultant for the movie Amazing Grace. Belmonte lives with his wife Kelly and son Sam in New England.

AUTHOR: Kevin Belmonte

PUBLISHER: Canon Press

PAGE COUNT: 118

BINDING: Paperback

SIZE: 5x8"

ISBN 10: 1954887205

ISBN-13: 9781954887206

PUB. DATE: February 15, 2022