Release Day!

Hello World! Meet Beauty & Imitation: A Philosophical Reflection on the Arts

Dear Friends at The Comic Muse,

I’ve very pleased to announce that today is the official release day of my book, Beauty & Imitation: A Philosophical Reflection on the Arts, published by the academic imprint of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries.

Today on the Word on Fire website I published this brief introduction to the book.

Early reviews of the book have said the following:

“This is literally the best book on beauty that I have ever read: the most convincing, clear, and comprehensive; the most eye-opening and satisfying; the most insightful and delightful. It is a masterpiece. I do not use that word lightly, but there is no other word for it.”

–Dr. Peter Kreeft, Professor of Philosophy, Boston College, and author of Socrates’ Children (Word on Fire 2023)

“Daniel McInerny’s book clarifies why we enjoy works of art—pictures, music, drama and movies, poetry and novels—and it also shows why we revere such works: not as ends in themselves, but because they place us in the truthful presence of what they depict. The book reactivates Aristotle’s understanding of mimesis and Aquinas’s enhancement of it. It shows how art elevates what it displays as well as the community that experiences it. It is a metaphysical and theological reflection on the arts, written in the style and spirit of C. S. Lewis: limpid prose, abundant citations, colorful examples. A book to study and learn from, then to browse in and enjoy.”

—Msgr. Robert Sokolowski, Elizabeth Breckenridge Caldwell Professor of Philosophy, The Catholic University of America

“McInerny delivers a sustained and compelling defense of art as mimetic form, a philosophical defense rooted in careful analysis of specific works of art, ranging from ancient texts to contemporary film. The book does more than talk about beauty; it offers the careful reader a training in the way of beauty.”

—Thomas Hibbs, J. Newton Rayzor Sr. Professor of Philosophy, Baylor University

“With the insight born of his own work as a novelist and playwright as well as his immersion in Aristotelian-Thomistic philosophy, McInerny unfolds in greater and greater depth a profoundly Catholic understanding of the crucial place of beauty that draws upon the thought of Jacques Maritain, Hans Urs von Balthasar, and Robert Sokolowski as well as many contemporary commentators. This is the book many of us have been waiting for.

—Dr. Glenn Arbery, Professor of Humanities, Wyoming Catholic College

If the Spirit moves, you can buy the book here.

You can also read a selection from the book here at the Word on Fire Bookstore.

Also, Founding Members of The Comic Muse ($150) will receive a signed copy of the book (a $28 value). While supplies last!