Afterlives of the Saints

May 15, 2012
Hagiography refers to writing on the lives of saints with a particular emphasis on the miracles performed by these pious men and women and typically employing a reverential approach. Afterlives of the Saints is not hagiography. Far from it. In fact, Dickey considers the saints to be dangerous figures, quite contrary to the image most people have of them. Dickey's saints are renegades, misfits, and outsiders, and he admits he is more interested in the madness of the saintstheir nonconformist natures, their inability to live normal lives than their perceived piety. There are thousands of saints, of course. The 17 saints, canonized and uncanonized, whom he has chosen ( only a tiny fragment of the many to be written about ) speak to him in numerous ways, partly because of art and literature. They include Gregory of Tours, Teresa of Avila, Anthony, George (of St. George and the Dragon fame), Origen, and Margery Kempe. An unusual and quite fascinating collection of tales.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)