Eyes to See - Hardcover

Lott, author of the Oprah pick Jewel (1999), writes in his introduction to this triumphant collection of short stories that rings through to the heart and the intellect that “the best stories reveal ourselves to ourselves, and ask us how then shall we live.” Accomplished in skill and weighty with Christian concerns, this anthology includes the likes of Dickens (the master), Tolstoy (the questioner), Flannery O’Connor (the southerner), and John Updike (the surprise). Aside from the sheer quality of the selections, these stories address shared themes. There is a struggle against loss, an understanding of understatement, a larger overvision that guides like an unnamed, even uninvited narrator. Reflective without being preachy, insightful without offering damnation or truth, but, rather, compelling stories laced with ideas that guide readers toward self-questioning, this is a collection of masterpiece stories that deeply affect us both because of and regardless of religious affiliation. --Mark Eleveld