On November 13th, Luke Sheahan and the other editors over at the excellent University Bookman were kind enough to publish my review of Andrew Frisardi’s 2020 book Love’s Scribe: Reading Dante in the Book of Creation. Why review, in late 2022, a book released in mid 2020?

Andrew Frisardi is one of the foremost Dante scholars in the world. His translations of Dante’s Convivio and Vita Nova are recognized as great by academics and general readers alike. However, Love’s Scribe released during the first wave of the pandemic in 2020 (from Angelico Press, July 7, 2020), so this book of essays by Andrew has flown much too far under the radar. I wanted to help correct that as much as I can with a review, and Frisardi has also been trying to promote this book again alongside his new collection of essays on poetry, Ancient Salt.

Andrew intended Love’s Scribe as a book that can teach both Dante scholars and Dante newcomers to read Dante on Dante’s own, Catholic terms. I was a good fit to review Love’s Scribe because I have read Dante but am more or less a novice, though I am experienced as a reader of classics and as a writer. I believe I have investigated well the experience a reader might have who knows classics and poetry but is not steeped in Dante knowledge.

If you would like to check out my review and see if Frisardi’s collection sounds interesting to you, you may read my essay at The University Bookman‘s website!