"Andrew Klavan's book illuminates even as it explores the deepest darkness, finding truth and beauty in art born of unflinching confrontations with evil."--Daniel McCarthy, editor-in-chief, Modern Age
In his USA Today bestselling The Truth and Beauty, Andrew Klavan explored how the work of great poets helps illuminate the truth of the gospels. Now, the award-winning screenwriter and crime novelist turns his attention to the dark side of human nature to discover how we might find joy and beauty in the world while still being clear-eyed about the evil found in it.
The Kingdom of Cain looks at three murders in history--including the first murder, Cain's killing of his brother, Abel--and at the art created from imaginative engagement with those horrific events by artists ranging from Fyodor Dostoevsky to Alfred Hitchcock.
To make beauty out of the world as it is--shot through with evil and injustice and suffering--is the task not just of the artist but, Klavan argues, of every life rightly lived. Examining how that transformation occurs in art grants us a vision for how it can happen in our lives.
Klavan eloquently argues that it is possible to be clear-eyed about the evil in the world while remaining hope-filled about God's ability to redeem it all.
About the author
Andrew Klavan is an award-winning writer, screenwriter, and media commentator. An internationally bestselling novelist and two-time Edgar Award-winner, Klavan is also the host of a popular podcast on DailyWire.com, The Andrew Klavan Show. His work has been made into films starring Clint Eastwood, Michael Douglas, and Michael Caine. His essays on politics, religion, and culture have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the LA Times, and elsewhere.
Summary
In The Kingdom of Cain, crime novelist, screenwriter, and cultural critic Andrew Klavan explores how artists' imaginative engagement with the evil of murder in film and literature can point us to ways of living honestly, beautifully, and even joyfully in a dark world.
