Percy-L: Literary, Religious, Scientific, and Philosophical Discussion of Walker Percy

["Gray, Rich" <RGray AT montreat.edu>]

I just re-read Love in the Ruins after about ten years.  It is supposed
to be dated, but I found it relevant -- and funnier than I remembered
it.  Members of my family were asking what I was laughing about.
Stryker announcing his discovery at the Love Clinic: 
        "I think you might be interested to learn, Tom, that since June
we've been using not one subject at a time" -- he touches my arm with a
withered finger--"but two."
        "Two?"
        "Yes.  A man and a woman.  Here's the breakthrough."  

After LITR, Percy wrote Lancelot, somber and violent.  How can this
swing in mood be accounted for?  The other four novels are similar in
blending satire with serious theme development.  And no one is killed (I
believe).  

Rich Gray