Living poetically : Kierkegaard's existential aesthetics /

Walsh (Stetson Univ.) offers a lucid jewel of Kierkegaardian scholarship. Her work on the importance of Kierkegaard's aesthetics may be a perfect book. It is at once both a detailed exposition on the role that Kierkegaard's sense of the poetic plays as an axis for the integration of an aesthetic, ethical, and religious life, and a clearheaded and practical critique of postmodernism. It is an enjoyable and scholarly discussion, as well as an invaluable research tool and sourcebook. Even the footnotes are perfect. They are filled with delicious side dishes (that will satisfy the needs of the most demanding research) but in no way interrupt the well-paced and effortless flow of her prose. In short, this may well be the new standard text for the role aesthetics plays in Kierkegaard's thought. It is easily accessible to upper-division undergraduate and graduate students, and should be considered indispensable for any professional scholar working in Kierkegaard's relation to philosophy, religious studies, or literature. M. C. E. Peterson; University of Wisconsin Centers