Dear Omaha Chestertonians,I hope that your descent into madness (i.e. reading The Apostle of Common Sense) will be a worthwhile adventure and perhaps even stir up some added enthusiasm for our man Chesterton. I assume you’ll all be sharing the same copy? Because I’d hate to see the sales of the book increase too much.
The book, of course, is designed to be an introduction to Chesterton, and though some of you have already been introduced for some time, there are enough Chesterton quotations to keep even the most jaded veteran interested. In fact, half the book is Chesterton. It’s just me dodging between things he wrote. I barely deserve to have my name on the cover!
But the point, as the title suggests, is that Chesterton does something that is desperately needed in our world – he brings the refreshing message of common sense. We tells us things that we all know to be true, but that we have either forgotten or simply have not been able to articulate so well ourselves. We are inundated with nonsense in art and literature and entertainment and journalism and education and politics and philosophy and religion, and the world is quite a mess as a result. Chesterton is part of the solution to the problem. But unlike medicine – which is unpleasant – he is a tonic, which is a boost of energy and delight. So, please enjoy, and let me know how things go.
I hope to see you all someday if I can arrange another visit to Omaha. But please join us at the conference in St. Paul, June 14-16.
Your servant,
Dale Ahlquist, President
American Chesterton Society
4117 Pebblebrook Circle
Minneapolis, MN 55437
952-831-3096
Your donations are greatly appreciated
