The Lives of Objects

[T]he individual interpretations in Kotrosits's book are elegant and persuasive. The writing is some of the clearest discussion of often opaque theory that I have seen. The warnings to scholars-for example, her position (also argued in her earlier work) that is wrong to use 'Christian' in a discussion of many second century texts-are convincing and apposite. And anyone aspiring to be a 'public intellectual' should be forewarned by the powerful exploration in her final chapter of the dangers of such aspiration. In short, this will be a challenging, even moving, book for scholars in several different fields of the humanities. -- Caroline Bynum * Critical Inquiry * Kotrosits (Dennison Univ.) addresses 'the dynamic place of . . . . objects, as considered through the history of what has been designated as early Christianity' (p. 2), citing late antique sources in light of numerous modern theorists. . . . Recommended. * Choice * An elegantly written and carefully crafted object all its own, The Lives of Objects refuses a neat divide between the linguistic and the material. Kotrosits offers us textual space for making contacts across time, across a range of theories and fields, amid so many quests for the real and yearnings for home. Reading this book, we can open ourselves to questioning the objects of biblical studies, of teaching, and of our own scholarly fantasies. -- Jacqueline M. Hidalgo, Williams College An elegantly written and carefully crafted object all its own, The Lives of Objects refuses a neat divide between the linguistic and the material. Kotrosits offers us textual space for making contacts across time, across a range of theories and fields, amid so many quests for the real and yearnings for home. Reading this book, we can open ourselves to questioning the objects of biblical studies, of teaching, and of our own scholarly fantasies. -- Jacqueline M. Hidalgo, Williams College Deeply reflective and compellingly poetic, The Lives of Objects attends to the too-easily ignored physical things that interact with and give shape to the cultural, social, and intellectual histories of early Christianity, inviting a major shift in our thinking toward an object-oriented way of being in community and in the world. Kotrosits's remarkable combination of theoretical refinement, in-depth historical research, and literary-critical acumen invites creative and critical reflection. This is one of the most exciting works in early Christian studies that I have encountered in many years. -- Timothy Beal, Case Western Reserve University Deeply reflective and compellingly poetic, The Lives of Objects attends to the too-easily ignored physical things that interact with and give shape to the cultural, social, and intellectual histories of early Christianity, inviting a major shift in our thinking toward an object-oriented way of being in community and in the world. Kotrosits's remarkable combination of theoretical refinement, in-depth historical research, and literary-critical acumen invites creative and critical reflection. This is one of the most exciting works in early Christian studies that I have encountered in many years. -- Timothy Beal, Case Western Reserve University