The Ball and the Cross

Like much of G. K. Chesterton's fiction, The Ball and the Cross is both witty and profound, cloaking serious religious and philosophical inquiry in sparkling humor and whimsy. Serialized in the British publication The Commonwealth in 1905-06, Chesterton's second novel first appeared in book form in America in 1909, delighting and challenging readers with its heady mixture of fantasy, farce, and theology.
The plot of The Ball and the Cross chronicles a hot dispute between two Scotsmen, one a devout but naive Roman Catholic, the other a zealous but naive atheist. Their fanatically held opinions leading to a duel that is proposed but never fought inspire a host of comic adventures whose allegorical levels vigorously explore the debate between theism and atheism.
Martin Gardner's superb introduction to The Ball and the Cross reveals the real-life debate between Chesterton and a famous atheist that provided inspiration for the story, and it explores some of the novel's possible allegorical meanings. Appraising the book's many intriguing philosophical qualities, Mr. Gardner alerts readers as well to the pleasures of its "colorful style . . . amusing puns and clever paradoxes . . . and the humor and melodrama of its crazy plot."
Unabridged Dover (1995) republication of the work originally published in 1909-1910. New Introduction by Martin Gardner.
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G. K. Chesterton (1874 - 1936) was an English writer, philosopher and literary and art critic. Chesterton created the fictional priest-detective Father Brown. He decided to follow art as a career, and studied at the Slade School, where, while attending or not attending to his studies, he met Ernest Hodder-Williams, who encouraged Chesterton in his writing. At his request he reviewed a number of books for the Bookman and found himself launched on a profession he was to follow all his life. Probably his most famous stories are those of Father Brown, but he wrote much about every conceivable subject under or beyond the sun. His fiction works would sell well, with titles such as "The Man Who Was Thursday", a thriller combining espionage and metaphysics, and "The Everlasting Man", which chronicles mankind's spiritual journey.