Using Dan Brown's book as a jumping off point, Inferno Revealed will provide readers of Brown's Inferno with an engaging introduction to Dante and his world. Much like the books on Leonardo that followed the release of the Da Vinci Code, this book will provide readers with more information about the ever-intriguing Dante. Specifically, Inferno Revealed explores how Dante made himself the protagonist of The Divine Comedy, something no other epic poet has done, a move for which the ramifications have not yet been fully explored. The mysteries and puzzles that arise from Dante's choice to personalize the epic, along with his affinity for his local surroundings and how that affects his depiction of the places, Church, and politics in the poem are considered-along with what this reveals about Brown's own usage of the work.
The authors will focus on and analyze how Dan Brown has repurposed Inferno in his newest book- noting what he gets right and what errors are made when he does not. Of course, Dan Brown is not the first author to base his work on Dante. The Comedy has elicited many adaptations from major canonical writers such as Milton and Keats to popular adaptations like David Fincher's Se7en and Tim Burton's Beetlejuice- all of which will be discussed in detail within Inferno Revealed.
"A lively sprint through Dante's celebrated poem and its stupendous afterlife. The authors roll out their account as a mystery story of their own. It's a terrific tale from start to finish about how Dante's seven-hundred-year-old personal epic still grips twenty-first-century readers, writers, and creative luminaries."
William J. Kennedy, Professor of Comparative Literature, Cornell University
"Deborah and Mark Parker bridge the gap between hard core Dante scholars and the pop cultural world. From Dante to Dan Brown is a cultural leap as well as a leap through time and across the planet. Deborah and Mark Parker have made the leap less daunting and treacherous."
Sandow Birk, artist, film maker, and author of the illustrated Dante's Inferno
