In this original and important book, David Parker calls for a new paradigm for comprehending life writing and demonstrates what it would look like. His writing is clear and crisp and moves along quickly. The Self in Moral Space will be of immediate interest to literary critics and scholars of life writing but will also appeal greatly to philosophers and ... Read morescholars of religious studies, because Parker directly engages the theoretical issues related to ethical criticism.
John D. Barbour, Martin Marty Regents Chair in Religion and the Academy, St. Olaf College In a series of inspired and compelling readings David Parker maps an ethicist approach to autobiography that is both illuminating and wise. This fine and powerful book establishes ethics as not only central but also necessary to our understanding of life writing.
Paul John Eakin, editor of The Ethics of Life Writing David Parker works from a full and clear understanding of current positions in autobiography theory in order to argue that identity, as expressed in life narratives, is invariably situated and determined in moral space, and further, that the quality of that moral space contributes quite significantly to the aesthetic quality of the work. The Self in Moral Space blends philosophy and literary criticism with a richness and finesse that will alter the way we read autobiography.
Susanna Egan, University of British Columbia David Parker demonstrates the fruitfulness of an ongoing conversation between literature and philosophy. Moral philosophers are paying increasing attention to literary texts for insights that some argue are not to be gained elsewhere. The Self in Moral Space shows that literary theorists may learn equally from philosophers.
Samantha Vice
Times Literary Supplement
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