Percy develops a theory of language through the example of Helen Keller being stimulated by the feel of water along with the sign for water, and explores questions such as why other animals don’t talk and why humans in technologically advanced, materially comfortable societies are so sad. He posits that the act of assigning meaning by naming things makes humans unique. The Message in the Bottle: In these profound and passionate essays that “have a way of quickening the spirit and cleansing the sight,” Percy looks to language to answer the question of who we are as humans ( The New Republic). In these two provocative works, Percy manages to be perceptive and playful as he more directly explores the philosophical foundations of his groundbreaking fiction. Winner of the National Book Award for The Moviegoer, the Southern writer Walker Percy possessed “an intellectual range and rigor few American novelists can match” ( The New York Times Book Review). Two fascinating philosophical inquiries from the “dazzlingly gifted” New York Times–bestselling and National Book Award–winning author of The Moviegoer ( USA Today).
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