On the Library New Books Shelf

 

I stopped by our local library and, as I always do, I checked the New Books shelves. The name G. K. Chesterton jumped out at me.

A new book about Chesterton?!

G. K. Chesterton on Life by Kevin Belmonte is new in that it was published in 2026. But it's old in the sense that it is basically a large collection of quotations from Chesterton.

Indeed, Belmonte had somewhat mined the same field with two previous works featuring quotations from Chesterton, The Quotable Chesterton, and Chesterton's Tavern. He also wrote a biography of Chesterton, Defiant Joy: The Remarkable Life & Impact of G. K. Chesterton. 

As for this collection, a blub on the back describes it as "a perfect gift for any occasion." It has that feel of a gift book. It's nicely laid out, with some page decorations at the start of each chapter. But that is not a criticism of it; it is a book that might introduce people who don't know him to Chesterton.

The book includes some quotations from others about Chesterton, some pictures of Chesterton from various sources, ads and news reports, and other images from the time Chesterton's time, and, of course, page after page of excerpts and quotations from Chesterton's works. Those quotations are organized under such chapters as "Things of Faith," "Nature, and the World Around Us," "Dash and Wit," and "Trappings of Modernity." 

There is also one chapter - "G.K.C. and the Eve of Orthodoxy" - dedicated to excerpts from an article about Chesterton written by George Holbrook Jackson in 1908, " I was not familiar with the article, and found the excerpts interesting. 

I had previously encountered a number of the quotations and excerpts, but I discovered many others new to me. 

I was amused to read one account of Chesterton meeting with Theodore Roosevelt, with Roosevelt observing, "What a supreme genius Chesterton is! I never met a man who could talk so brilliantly and interestingly."

This book can serve as an introduction to Chesterton, and indeed might make "a perfect gift" for those not too familiar with him.  

At the very least, it's great to see Chesterton's name featured on a library bookshelf where it might help to draw attention to him.