ISBN 9781621647409

Originally commissioned by Exodus 90, the pioneering mens app, these brief but stirring reflections by acclaimed writer Joseph Pearce show how great literatureincluding poetrycan help every Catholic man striving for virtue and holiness.

Drawing on luminaries such asHomer, Dante, St. John Henry Newman, Chesterton, Tolkien,andC. S. Lewis,Pearce shows that literature, far from being a dead relic of the past, tackles crucial questions which are directly relevant to modern men. Among the many great books he reflects on for the benefitof men includeThe Odyssey, The Aeneid, Beowulf, The Divine Comedy, Hamlet, Brideshead Revisited, The Hobbit, Chronicles of Narnia, The Ball and Cross.Some of the classic worksof poetry he comments on for men's inspiration includeThe Hound of Heaven, God's Grandeur, TwelfthNight, The TigerandIf.

What does Shakespeare say about the dangers of lust? How does God pursue the sinner like a Hound of Heaven? What does it mean to be soldiers of Christ on active duty in the Church Militant? What sort of men do we want our sons to become? What does a great poet-saint teach us about the power of the sign of the cross to exorcise demons? How can we nurture a faith which is fearless?In a culture that fosters toxic masculinity on the one hand and effeminacy on the other, the literary giants of the past offer an inspiring alternative vision of true manhood, one that Catholic men are called to embrace as they work out [their] salvation with fear and trembling (Phil 2:12).