This volume is beautifully written and well-argued While optimism can be cruel, and hopeless stoicism can seem courageous, Treanors wide-eyed invitation into Melancholic Joy is a welcome corrective in a field that is saturated by calls to tarry with the negative. * Journal for Continental Philosophy of Religion * Drawing on a myriad of sources (literary, poetic, theological, and philosophical) that can only come from a lifetime of reading, reflection, and experience, Brian Treanors Melancholic Joy: On Life Worth Living strikes one as profoundly personal yet hermeneutically universal. ... this text is joyful and very much worth reading, either as an object of scholarly inquiry or for no other reason than enriching oneself in this transitory existence. * Worldviews * Brian Treanor goes beyond poetic exhortation to explore the grounds for affirming the goodness of being, suggesting ways of living that leave one open to experiences of wonder and joy even while remaining cognizant of the darker aspects of reality ... readers committed to a life worth living even in the face of death, pandemics, climate change, and other sources of suffering will also find much of value in this book. * Reading Religion * Treanor's Melancholic Joy is a marvelous achievement: beautifully written, endlessly rich, and wise. * Michael Hauskeller, Professor of Philosophy, University of Liverpool, UK * Simply put, this book is fantastic. It offers the reader, not simply a theory about finding joy in a suffering world, but an injunction and a path to discover such joy in their own lives. * Neal DeRoo, Canada Research Chair in Phenomenology and Philosophy of Religion, The Kings University, Canada *
