“I consider this book to be absolutely brilliant. The authors it discusses are central to the modernist movement in literature, and Hughes offers a new perspective regarding what makes them important. His use of philosophy to deepen his literary analysis is especially valuable, and he uses it to make a compelling case for the centrality of the theme of transcendence to their works. He explains his thesis so clearly and illustrates it so well that I think even a reader averse to that theme would recognize its importance to these authors.”—Eugene Webb, University of Washington, author of The Dark Dove: The Sacred and Secular in Modern Literature
“Any reader of this book will be led to admire the exceptional combination of a great philosophical competence and a notable literary sensitivity by which it excels. Glenn Hughes proposes to study six 'visions in modern literature' and the promise implied by this formula is splendidly fulfilled. Through his voice, in the form of an immensely learned book, we hear the most essential messages of meaning from such celebrated writers as Emily Dickinson, Marcel Proust. T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, Samuel Beckett, Bob Dylan.”—Tilo Schabert, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, author of The Figure of Modernity: On the Irregularity of an Epoch
“Glenn Hughes has performed an inestimable service in demonstrating the extent to which the great works of modernist literature are saturated with an awareness of the transcendent. The range of authors covered and the compelling character of the analysis makes this a seminal work of literary, philosophical, and spiritual interpretation. From Dickinson to Dylan makes it increasingly difficult to maintain the shibboleth of modernity as largely bereft of the sacred. In addition, Hughes reveals the authoritative role of art in generating publicly evocative symbolizations of the order of being. This is a major achievement.”—David Walsh, Catholic University of America, author of Politics of the Person as the Politics of Being