Elizabeth Robinson

Now

that we

are swallowed in the cosmos

in the great and bilious sea

in the leviathan

in its gut, we now

feel the muscles of the cosmos,

the tides, the tongue that

forces us like saliva

The imagination's shifts between stability and disorientation

A review of Joel Bettridge's 'Reading as Belief'

Last fall, I asked Jacket2 if I could review Joel Bettridge’s Reading as Belief. The book closely considers the relationship between acts of faith and the practice of reading, and both are processes that are of primary interest to me. Reading and belief are similar, Bettridge claims, because both entail vulnerability, willed credulity, and commitment. As such, both reading and faith are systems of valuation that make demands on those who subscribe to their terms.  Through a series of coincidences and mutual friends, Bettridge and I met electronically. I had already written the following summary of the book. This served as a starting point for our conversation and so I include it and Bettridge’s first response here. The questions and dialogue that ensued follow this summary of the book.  Elizabeth Robinson    

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