Percy himself was never terribly anxious to talk about himself, so it was a joy to read Tolson's well-researched account after devouring all of Percy's books. Where Percy has left only hints, Tolson delves more deeply to uncover Percy's troubled childhood which was redeemed in his teenage years by his Uncle Will, author of Lanterns on the Levee. If you read Walker Percy, you undoubtedly find you want to know more and more about the enigmatic genius. Tolson's biography of him fills in a lot of gaps.

I was quite pleased when this biography came out because I had been a fan of Dr. Percy for many years. I'd read through his fiction and nonfiction several times, including various interviews, literary criticism, and minutiae -- in short, anything connected with Percy. Had I pursued that course, I very likely would have written a dissertation on Percy.

So I was even happier to discover that Mr. Tolson did a fine job with his subject. He examines the books in the context of Percy's life and in a way that is friendly without becoming overly academic. Percy was a private man who didn't have much use for biographies or biographers. Fortunately, Tolson respected his wishes by neither prying too much nor engaging in the sort of amateur psychologizing which is all too common in modern pathography. He proves a sensitive reader and biographer.

Having said that, there's a strain in Percy's life and work that most biographers and critics have missed. They correctly indicate the significance of alcohol and suicide in the illustrious Percy lineage. But they examine that significance only in a metaphysical way rather than a physical (biological) way, that is, in a psychological way rather than a psychiatric way. Why did Dr. Percy never seek psychotherapy or some kind of medical treatment for his clinical depression? What sorts of things might have interfered with that search?

I found Pilgrim in the Ruins to be an enjoyable look at Dr. Percy and his work. It is well-grounded in southern history, Percy's family history, the works themselves and how they fit into the larger currents of American literature. Even the reader who is a stranger to Percy will find much to appreciate here.

This book is one of the finest I have ever read. I don't say that lightly; I have read my share of books and devoured anything written by or about Percy.

Tolson is worthy of the novelist whose life he portrays. He writes beautifully and takes the reader through the many periods of Percy's life. The biography is particulalry strong with the formative influences that shaped the novelist's life and world view-- the suicides, the depressions, both the "Old" and "New" South, his Uncle Will, Shelby Foote, modern America, religion, race, etc.

The book impacted me more than any other I have read, and I would not be the same person today without it. There can be no finer praise for a work; 5 stars seems so insufficient.

How fortunate we are Percy had Tolson as a biographer.

I bought this book because of an enduring love affair with the literary works of Walker Percy. As an addition to the literary biographies of Percy written by Samway and Tolson, the letters serve their purpose well. As a letters volume on its own merits, The Correspondence of Shelby Foote and Walker Percy is unbalanced. Apparently, Foote didn't start saving Percy's letters until the exchange had been occurring for some time. Nevertheless, it is thoroughly interesting to observe Foote's massive ego as he lectures Percy, having the knowledge that Percy ultimately became the far greater literary star. If you've already delved deeply into the work and history of Walker Percy, you'll need this book. If not, find a different starting place, this is not a good place to begin.

This was a great read, but each of the correspondents disappointed in their own ways. Percy's letters are written in an intelligent but notably vague style; Foote's have more bite and literary polish, but at the same time display a nasty streak in his personality that remained invisible in his brilliant _Civil War_.

It's a bit sickening to watch on as Foote seduces the wife of a local doctor, and later recommends to Percy (oh so wittily) that he use pillows to prop up the crotches of female UNC undergrads so that they might better serve his wishes.

On the bright side, it is hilarious to watch Foote react to a letter from a clueless librarian accusing him of failing to mention Gettysburg in his history (she seems not to have realized that it was a multi-volume work). Even more importantly, the entire collection is thought-provoking.

Pity Shelby Foote. Most people know his as a writer of books on the Civil War. But when you read this book of letters you see that what thrilled him most was reading great literature.

The reader of this book of letters between two friends will be thrilled by talk of literature. Foote is like Herr Settembrini of Thomas Mann's "The Magic Mountain". He is so overwhelmed by humantistic learning that he finds he must educate his friend and mentor Hans Castrop, in this case Walker Percy.

It is ironic that the prodigy in this case, Walker Percy, soon eclipses the mentor. Walker Percy agonizes in his early letters about his inability to have his novels published while Foote publishes his books in rapid succession. But today Percy's "Moviegoer" and other books are still read while only Foote's "Shiloh" is really still popular. It seems Foote is stuck with Civil War fame have written his long classic on the war.

Reading Foote's letters is where I discovered Flanney O'Connor. Walker Percy and Shelby Foote spoke highly of her here. They also talk about the important of reading Marcel Proust, Faulkner, and a dozen others. Toward the end Foote begins to spew forth on the merits of reading the Greek classics. It is his description of these books and their authors that adds to one's own literary education.

The first part of the book is a little annoying because Shelby Foote threw away the letters that Walker Percy sent to him for the first many years of their correspondence. So you keep reading Shelby Foote but are not privvy to what Walker Percy as to say.