By turns champion of the Christian difference and voice of dissent; friend to Moley and Water Rat and scourge to those of scientistic bent - these are but a few of the many guises of David Bentley Hart, whose books, essays, and reviews over the past twenty years have established him as one of America's foremost theologians, critics, and men of letters. Few have escaped Hart's withering scrutiny, as he has exploded comfortable attitudes of believers and unbelievers alike. Here he turns his vital, and at times acerbic, pen to matters of truly high books and authors - and in so doing ranges far and wide across our intellectual landscape. Writing on everything from Alice to Zen, here are meditations on culture, theology, and politics; on words, sports, and nature. Disarming, insightful, illuminating - and often wickedly funny - the essays in The Dream-Child's Progress give evidence of the great gift we have in a Christian intellectual engaging our world with warmth, candor, and clarity - but most of all, with charity. "David Bentley Hart's arch connoisseurship of more than is known to the cherubim cannot disguise the extraordinary breadth of his human sympathy and generosity. His advocacy of remote literary treasures and lingering cultural mysteries will surely do much to offset the terrible reputation our universe must enjoy among the inhabitants of other dimensions. No more successful cosmic sales-pitch could be imagined. Planetary readers will find endless resources in these occasional pieces to revive their jaded appetites, or to put their mounting fears into perspective." - JOHN MILBANK, University of Nottingham "David Hart is a national treasure. Like an ecologist lovingly displaying the beauty of a rare plant, or pinpointing where to find the real contribution of, or cure for, an invasive shrub, Hart masterfully guides us into the many ways in which humans attempt to express - sometimes with spectacular success, often with ludicrous failure - the intricacy and mystery of reality. Even at his most acerbic, Hart exhibits a childlike delight in the vast babble of human literary, cultural, political, and scientific creativity - dampened only by encounter with certain atheists and Augustinians (the latter of whom should still enjoy his work). This is a book for all who seek echoes of when 'the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy'." - MATTHEW LEVERING, Mundelein Seminary, Univ. of St. Mary of the Lake "A journey through the mind of David Bentley Hart is always a great and glorious adventure no superlative can describe and no summary encapsulate. Perhaps, then, the highest praise one can lavish on The Dream Child's Progress is to say it is not altogether unlike another journey undertaken with the guidance of Hart's beloved Lewis it gets curiouser and curiouser with each wonderful essay." - MICHAEL HANBY, Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family, Catholic University of America "David Bentley Hart is an indispensable voice - brilliant, learned, arch, and pitiless. This far-ranging collection is quintessential Hart, by turns provocative and hilarious. I learn something unexpected from nearly every essay." - KYLE HARPER, University of Oklahoma "This volume is a nest holding many fine jewels. Once again, Hart has shown that he is the best writer on religion (and all things attendant) in America today." - CONOR CUNNINGHAM, University of Nottingham "These essays of David Hart, mostly on books and authors, glow with delight in the most human of storytelling, religion, truth, entertainment, being alone, other people - and the mystery of language. David Hart is a master. If you have not read him, you must. When you read him, you will learn better how and what to read, how to pray and rebel, how to let go of things you thought were important, and how to adhere to the one thing necessary." - AARON RICHES, Seminario Mayor San Cecilio, Granada, Spain