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C. S. Lewis: A Companion & Guide, by Walter Hooper (HarperCollins, 960 pp., $40)

THE reputation of C. S. Lewis is constantly evolving as he is continually rediscovered, although, until now, always partially and incompletely. What we have needed is a restoration, and Walter Hooper gives us exactly that: Lewis whole and rich. In the section of this book titled “Life of C. S. Lewis” Hooper reveals much, as in the treatment of Tolkien’s devoted role in Lewis’s accepting his Cambridge professorship. “Writings” is the heart of the Companion & Guide. For each of the 32 Lewis books treated, Hooper provides background, summary, and a sampling of (often amazing) contemporaneous reviews. “Key Ideas” is the pulse of the book. Many entries are familiar (Allegory, Joy, Chronological Snobbery) but many others are not (The Law of Inattention; Thrills, A Distrust of). In “What’s What” are 67 entries—from Addison’s Walk and the Cowley Fathers to the New York C. S. Lewis Society,

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James Como

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C. S. Lewis: A Companion & Guide, by Walter Hooper (HarperCollins, 960 pp., $40)

THE reputation of C. S. Lewis is constantly evolving as he is continually rediscovered, although, until now, always partially and incompletely. What we have needed is a restoration, and Walter Hooper gives us exactly that: Lewis whole and rich. In the section of this book titled “Life of C. S. Lewis” Hooper reveals much, as in the treatment of Tolkien’s devoted role in Lewis’s accepting his Cambridge professorship. “Writings” is the heart of the Companion & Guide. For each of the 32 Lewis books treated, Hooper provides background, summary, and a sampling of (often amazing) contemporaneous reviews. “Key Ideas” is the pulse of the book. Many entries are familiar (Allegory, Joy, Chronological Snobbery) but many others are not (The Law of Inattention; Thrills, A Distrust of). In “What’s What” are 67 entries—from Addison’s Walk and the Cowley Fathers to the New York C. S. Lewis Society,