Ragen, Brian Abel 1958-

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Ragen, Brian Abel 1958-
(Brian A. Ragen)

PERSONAL:

Born October 23, 1958, in San Diego, CA; son of Harry Joseph and Helen Louise Ragen. Education: Pomona College, Claremont, CA, B.A., 1980; Princeton University, M.A., 1982, Ph.D., 1987.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, Edwardsville, IL 62026. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Writer and educator. Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, lecturer, 1984-88; Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA, lecturer, 1986-87; Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, assistant professor, 1988-93, associate professor, 1994-2000, professor of English, 2000—.

MEMBER:

American Association of University Professors, American Culture Association, American Religion and Literature Society (cofounder), American Studies Association, Association of Literary Scholars and Critics, English-Speaking Union of the United States, Mid-West Modern Language Association, South Atlantic Modern Language Association, Modern Language Association of America, Heraldry Society (U.S.), Heraldry Society (U.K.), Royal Heraldry Society of Canada; American Recorder Society, Country Dance & Song Society, Order of St. John (officer), National Eagle Scout Association, St. Louis Recorder Society (treasurer, 2001—).

AWARDS, HONORS:

New Faculty Research Fellowship, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, 1988; Faculty Fourth Quarter Research Fellowship, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, 1990; summer research fellowship, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, 1994, 2000; Phi Kappa Phi, 1994.

WRITINGS:

A Wreck on the Road to Damascus: Innocence, Guilt, and Conversion in Flannery O'Connor, Loyola University Press (Chicago, IL), 1989.

Tom Wolfe: A Critical Companion, Greenwood Press (Westport, CT), 2002.

Contributor to periodicals, including Papers on Language & Literature, Anglican Digest, Journal of Contemporary Thought, America, Semiotica, Christianity & Literature, Notes and Queries, and the New York Times.

Papers on Language & Literature, editor.

SIDELIGHTS:

Author Brian Abel Ragen is a professor of English, who teaches all periods of English and American literature with a concentration on authors Samuel Johnson, Anthony Trollope, Flannery O'Connor, and Vikram Seth. Ragen is also a scholar of heraldry and belongs to several heraldry organizations in the United States and Great Britain. He often writes on heraldry and other topics as varied as hymns and semiotics.

In A Wreck on the Road to Damascus: Innocence, Guilt, and Conversion in Flannery O'Connor, Ragen examines themes of Catholicism and opposition to the solitary man theme in the writings of O'Connor. The tradition of the solitary man in literature is exemplified by the single male character who has no past to haunt him, no ties in the future, and the ability recreate himself and his identity when necessary. O'Connor found this tradition foolish, Ragen notes, and thought the solitary man tradition was little more than a glorification of narcissism and egocentrism. Ragen "manages to provide a reading of O'Connor that is intellectually challenging and enlightening without also being prosaic and unimaginative," commented Sheryl L. Meyering in American Literature.

In Tom Wolfe: A Critical Companion, Ragen offers a detailed biography of Wolfe, a writer known for his pioneering work with the nonfiction novel, which "blurs the lines between fiction and nonfiction," commented Marilyn Heath in School Library Journal. The book begins with an examination of Wolfe's life and background, and continues with observations on his stature in the literary world, his impeccable attire, his activities outside of the literary circle, his place in the vanguard of the New Journalism, and his many works, including The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, The Right Stuff, and The Bonfire of the Vanities. Ragen's critical readings of Wolfe's works will "introduce students to a variety of interpretive techniques," Heath noted.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Literature, March, 1991, Sheryl L. Meyering, review of A Wreck on the Road to Damascus:Innocence, Guilt, and Conversion in Flannery O'Connor, p. 148.

School Library Journal, October, 2002, Marilyn Heath, review of Tom Wolfe: A Critical Companion, p. 191.