The Disciplined Heart

-- Publishers Weekly "A penetrating and illuminating glimpse into the vagaries of human love." -- Booklist "Caroline J. Simon's book is not only a lucid philosophical examination of love but also an important contribution to contemporary philosophical and theological discussion of narrative. It is accessibly written and will appeal to a broad general audience; but it will also be of interest to specialists concerned particularly with the influence of Anders Nygren in Protestant theology and with discussion of both love and narrative in such philosophers as Martha Nussbaum and Iris Murdoch. Readers will appreciate Simon's perceptive discussion of fictional works by Flannery O'Connor, Leo Tolstoy, William Kennedy, F. Scott Fitzgerald, George Eliot, Wallace Stegner, and Isak Dinesen, as well as her discussion of correspondence between Leslie Marmon Silko and James Wright. The book is a delight, both for Simon's insights and for her pointers to others who have participated and are participating in a lively conversation about love and friendship. " Miroslav Volf "This is a wise book, written in an engaging dialogue with some of our best novelists, philosophers, and theologians. Simon's profound reflections about the light that love sheds by the fire it carries deserve a wide audience." William Hasker "Caroline Simon has given us a wonderful book. She anatomizes our various loves in a way that is challenging, richly insightful, and at times disturbing. The Disciplined Heart invites comparison with C. S. Lewis's The Four Loves, and in some ways surpasses it."