Longing for an Absent God: Faith and Doubt in Great American Fiction

Longing for an Absent God unveils the powerful role of faith and doubt in the American literary tradition. Nick Ripatrazone explores how two major strands of Catholic writers—practicing and cultural—intertwine and sustain each other.

Ripatrazone explores the writings of devout American Catholic writers in the years before the Second Vatican Council through the work of Flannery O'Connor, Andre Dubus, and Walker Percy; those who were raised Catholic but drifted from the church, such as the Cat...