10 Things You (Probably) Didn't Know About C.S. Lewis

In the meticulous biography Becoming C.S. Lewis, the first of a planned trilogy, Harry Lee Poe chronicles Lewis's first 20 years: it is the death of Lewis's mother, when he was nine years old, that Poe asserts caused Lewis (1898-1963) to ponder life's big questions and the problem of suffering. Poe closely examines Lewis's education, starting with two years at Wynyard School in England-a miserable place known for beating its students-then short stints at other schools, before, at age 14, studying under William Kirkpatrick, who influenced Lewis's atheist beliefs (Lewis's conversion to Christianity didn't occur until his 30s). This excellent work will have readers eagerly anticipating the next volume. Poe shares some little-known facts about the writer.