Francis of assisi poems and biography book

Abbreviations Introduction 1 The Formative Years, 1205-12 2 The Hidden Years, 1212-16 3 The Pivotal Years, 1216-19 4 The Years Overseas, 1219-20 5 The Years of Confrontation, 1220-21 6 The Years of Legislation, 1221-3 7 The Years of Decline, 1223-6 Epilogue References Further Reading Acknowledgements Photo Acknowledgements Index

(A Very Diverse List of)
Ten of the Best Books
on St. Francis

This is the first in an on-going series of “playlists,” in which we recommend books around a particular theme. We offer this first one in honor of the Feast of St. Francis, which is today.

“Making a mixtape (or playlist) is the opposite of indifferent. It’s heartfelt, purposeful — often a subtle form of flirtation. … [The playlist] is a way of making yourself known, an interpersonal form of show business, of making news, of replicating sounds and words you find important. It’s like poetry, because poetry is what you can’t say in any other way.”
— David Dark, The Sacredness of Questioning Everything
(Our 2009 Book of the Year. Read our Review…)
*** Watch for more ERB playlists in the coming weeks and months, and for a forthcoming essay on playlists as a way of doing theology.

Use the comments below to let us know what you think…
Are there books that should be added to or deleted from this list?

1)St. Francis: A Novel by Nikos Kazantkazis
[Paperback – Amazon ]
My favorite, because Francis’s story is told with all the fiery passion for which Kazantzakis (author of The Last Temptation of Christ) is known.  The Saint’s struggles as depicted here reveal not a super-human, but a real person to whom we can relate.

2) St. Francis of Assisi by G.K. Chesterton
[ Paperback – Amazon ] [ Kindle Ebook – Only $2.99!]
Another creative account of Francis’s life, by the literary and theological giant.  Chesterton emphasizes “the extent to which Francis’ love of women and animal kind made him a thinker and Christian practitioner that was truly ahead of his time.”

3) Brother Sun, Sister Moon by Katherine Paterson

[ Hardback – Amazon ]  [ Browse some of the book’s artwork ]

This recent book, illustrated with stunning pape

“Volker Leppin’s Francis of Assisi . . . maneuver[s] constantly between hagiography and history, legend and fact, heaven and Earth, miracles and—what’s the opposite of miracles? Leppin comes not to debunk but rather to discover in what fashion those early, physics-defying accounts of Francis, the tales told within the blast radius of his actual presence, might be understood as true.”—James Parker, The Atlantic

“Refreshing. . . . Complex, multilayered, and ambitious.”—Costica Bradatan, Times Literary Supplement

“Leppin’s biography of Francis of Assisi is refreshingly modest, extraordinarily well written, and captures so much of the fascination we still have for this exceptional man from the Middle Ages. That is quite an achievement.”—Ulrich Ruh, Zeitzeichen

“In this important work, Volker Leppin combines biographical zeal with a nonpartisan search for historical and theological truth. His unhagiographical Francis-vita is a factual and meaningful account constructed from fragments. Constructive doubt and deconstruction contribute to its originality and persuasive force.”—Krijn Pansters, general editor, Franciscan Studies

“Beneath the filtered sources that bear witness to the biography of this saint, Leppin finds fragments of a man rebuilding himself, after a terrible break with his father, around the pursuit of a mystical fusion of self with Christ. This is Francis as known through his first admirers, sensitively reconstructed, thoughtfully narrated, and compelling in every detail still.”—Christopher Ocker, author of The Hybrid Reformation: A Social, Cultural, and Intellectual History of Contending Forces