"The Book Weighs Almost as Much as Chesterton Himself."

A line for the ages.  I want one.  Excerpts:

...The lovers love Chesterton, of course. The haters claim not to hate him but are very anxious to see him dismissed. They are desperately worried that he is suddenly being taken seriously. After all, this is the third major biography to appear in less than two years, and two of them have come from one of the most respected publishers in the world. In other words, the reactions have been to Chesterton, and not to the book...

Ker had not really begun to read Chesterton in earnest until just over a decade ago. What especially struck him as he got deeper into his subject was Chesterton’s importance as a literary critic, which has been sadly overlooked by the academic community. But he also gained an appreciation of Chesterton’s humor. We find, says Ker, a mini-philosophy, even a mini-theology, of laughter. Chesterton’s writing shakes with laughter, but it is not random. It is pointed. It has an eternal orientation. It turns out to be Catholic...