Surprised by Joy / The Four Loves

"If wit and wisdom, style and scholarship are requisites to passage through the pearly gates, Mr. Lewis will be among the angels." —The New Yorker

C.S. Lewis was an unfailingly honest and acutely perceptive observer of humanity. In Surprised by Joy, he recounts his search for joy, a spiritual journey that led him from a traditional Christian childhood in Belfast to a youthful atheism and, finally, back to a confident Christianity. The Four Loves, a candid, wise and deeply personal book, is a reflection on the four basic kinds of human love—affection, friendship, erotic love, charity—and all of the pleasures and risks that accompany them.

C.S. Lewis (1898–1963) gained international renown for an impressive array of beloved works of both popular and scholarly literary criticism, children’s literature, fantasy literature, and numerous books on theology. Surprised by Joy and The Four Loves are among his most celebrated achievements, as are Out of the Silent Planet, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Screwtape Letters.