More than a Matter of Taste

What does it mean to be a reader of good taste? How can we inhabit the moral imagination in a way that avoids heavy-handed moralism? How can we grow in prudential judgment and spiritual discernment while delighting in the books we get lost in? And can looking at the world through the “million windows” of the “house of fiction” really elevate or transfigure the lives we lead?

In More than a Matter of Taste, Joshua Hren explores these questions and presents fresh takes that possess timeless significance. Surveying a selection of fictions old and new, Hren brings a Catholic theological and philosophical vision to bear on good and great books, opening up their moral and spiritual depths. More than a Matter of Taste shows how a robust engagement with the quality of fiction raises the stakes beyond aesthetics into ethics and metaphysical truth.

Readers of every persuasion, both devotees of literature and those who read for pleasure, will find this book a trustworthy guide for what it means to read with moral clarity.