C. S. Lewis was my hero in high school. Armed with a desire to strengthen my Christian faith, I purchased every yellow-covered mass paperback volume of his works that I could find. Of course, Narnia and the Space Trilogy were also coveted works in my collection. What apologists do you know that also write science fiction and fantasy?

Over the years I’ve returned to his books with a more critical eye. While his arguments don’t always hold water, no one can deploy an apt analogy with greater precision. With this in mind, I decided to read A. N. Wilson’s biography.

Wilson begins with an interesting perspective on how people like to that claim Lewis as their own. In particular, his Protestant fans in the United States envision him as a saint (ignoring his smoking and drinking ways). The truth is, he was anything but. Aside from the American vices of smoking and drinking, Lewis could be a domineering bully who used his powerful rhetoric to win arguments. The early loss of his mother led to an … odd relationship with Mrs. Moore.

That said, Lewis was also an immensely generous fellow who experienced deep friendships with others. No one’s pure saint or sinner. Wilson’s biography gives a fascinating and honest picture of a brilliant scholar who, for all his flaws, produced a large corpus of work that is still widely read today.

Wilson, A. N. C. S. Lewis: A Biography. 1991. Harper Perennial, 2005.