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Review title: Not much new here.
Product review: There is little that is new in this book; indeed, much of it is citation from Carpenter's biography and his edition of Tolkien's letters. The author seems focus a bit much on Tolkien's Catholicism; in fact, it becomes rather mind-numbing in the end, repeating the same thing in a different context. Mind you, I am not saying that Tolkien's religion did not influence his writings, but there were other things as well. I was looking forward to a new biography, but this was not the one I sought. The flaws in Carpenter's biography which Pearce and other reviewers on this page seem to dwell upon ought to be obvious to any of its serious readers anyway. I think one would be wiser to stick with Carpenter, the letters, and Tolkien's works. When it comes down to it, this biography relies too heavily upon block quotations from these, and, as a result, there was not enough new scholarship. The little that was present was a bit too narrow-minded for my taste.
