Tweeting Dante

“Using the vehicle of the tweet, Donald Carlson takes us on two journeys at once. First, he shares a short review of the canto he surveys. Second, within that summary, he weaves his own interpretive insights—his own Divine Comedy—grasped through his rich, nuanced imaginal reading of each canto and its relevance to today’s world. We are gifted with a double vision: Dante’s and Don’s. What a rich journey!”


—Dennis Patrick Slattery, author of Day-to-Day Dante: Exploring Personal Myth Through “The Divine Comedy”





“Who else but the boundlessly inventive writer and teacher extraordinaire Dr. Donald Carlson would think of dispensing gems from Dante’s Inferno via Twitter, and then reel us even further in with one hundred ever-so-thoughtful pontifications that mesh seamlessly with this timeless work of the Italian poet, writer, and philosopher? I would characterize Professor Carlson much as Dante would Virgil—namely, as ‘he who is guide, who leads my eyes on high.’”


—Christopher Phillips, author of Socrates Café: A Fresh Taste of Philosophy





“Don Carlson’s selection of Tweet-sized excerpts from Dante’s poem, accompanied by his illuminating commentary, succeeds marvelously in doing what it sets out to do: capturing the essence of each canto as we relive Dante’s journey through the poem. The commentaries are so good—each one a masterfully condensed interpretation based on long experience and study of the poem—I would recommend them to anyone seeking greater understanding and enjoyment of Dante’s epic.”


—Stephen Shivone, Thomas Aquinas College