Abstract

Dennis Quinn resides in the Department of English at Kansas University, where innumerable alumni will attest that he is a master teacher. In this excellent book he also trades in the discipline of philosophy, which is fitting given that philosophy begins in wonder and Quinn’s book so acutely wonders at wonder. The book divides into four parts in which the author unfolds Western attitudes about wonder and evaluates them in ten chapters. The fourth part is something of an epilogue, so the first three parts, consisting of nine chapters, comprise most of his historical excursus and commentary, which is richly detailed but accessible.