As a child, Clive Staples Lewis imagined many things . . . heroic animals and knights in armor and a faraway land called Boxen. He even thought of a new name for himself--at four years old, he decided he was more of a Jack. As he grew up, though, Jack found that the real world was not as just as the one in his imagination. No magic could heal the sick or stop a war, and a bully's words could pierce as sharply as a sword. So Jack withdrew into books...

American and other contemporary authors present essays on the Narnia books and their influence, and discuss such aspects as the connection with World War II, the food, female characters, possible racism, and signs of environmentalism.