Description: A powerful consideration of the lessons imparted in the final works of essential writers and philosophers
Review Quotes: "Rich and poignant . . . Sadness abounds in these reflections, yet Taylor affirms the here and now and reminds readers that as life is a challenge, the ending time of life is a challenge within that challenge, something all will have to negotiate."--Choice
"[Taylor's] book is a reflection on the end of life through the question of its meaning -- and, by extension, the purpose of writing."--Bradley B. Onishi, Los Angeles Review of Books "Modern life is a map of realms or worlds, intellectual and cultural as well as geographic that abut without necessarily connecting. The thinkers whom the larger world needs most are those who have ventured farthest from their starting points without sacrificing intellectual rigor. Such a thinker is Mark C. Taylor."--Jack Miles, author of God: A Biography "Last Works is a dazzling tapestry of reflection on the final works of writers Mark Taylor has loved through his many transformations. This is Taylor's intellectual autobiography, his relentless and moving quest to understand religion in its many engagements with literature."--Kevin Hart, The University of Virginia "As Mark Taylor's brilliant meditation on last works moves towards its own end, it folds one writer's life and language into the next to thicken the strange meanings of thought time: knowing that we die."--Siri Hustvedt, author of The Blazing World "Few thinkers have explored the interplay of death and life as personally and with as much depth and creativity as Mark C. Taylor. In Last Works, he turns to the final writings of his intellectual ghosts for 'lessons in leaving' that speak to everyone."--Paul Lieberman, author of Gangster Squad "Mark C. Taylor's brilliant and nuanced approach to these truly great writers reflects his original path to thinking, which is philosophy as it should be conducted today. Insights from this profound meditation on the human condition fill every page in this magnificent volume."--Esa Saarinen, Aalto University, Finland