I Also Had My Hour is a unique, wide-ranging Autobiography of G.K. Chesterton

I Also Had My Hour: An Alternative Autobiography of G.K. Chesterton by Dale Ahlquist is a unique and engaging work: a retelling of Chesterton’s life in his own words, taken from hundreds of sources, and then edited by the noted Chesterton scholar into a narrative. Chesterton did write an autobiography at the end of his life, but, as Ahlquist—who has studied Chesterton’s life and writings as few others have—notes, Chesterton mostly wrote about other people in that work and said remarkably little about himself.

This new work uses wide-ranging material—sentences, paragraphs, even poems—some of it never published before, to allow readers to see and understand Chesterton as never before.

As the Ignatius Press description states: “Ahlquist’s careful compilation yields a new, intimate look at the most interesting character in Chesterton’s story: the man holding the pen. We learn about his youth, his beginnings as a writer, his rise as a literary star, his family and friends and foes, his travels, his struggles and temptations, his controversies, his sorting out the mystery of life, and his conversion to the Catholic faith.”

I recently corresponded with Ahlquist, who was in between giving several talks and, without doubt, doing even more research about Chesterton. Here is our pithy conversation.

CWR: Why did you write this book?

Dale Ahlquist: Because I’d already written most of it.

CWR: Maybe you’d better explain that.

Ahlquist: I thought you were going to ask me how I could presume to write another person’s autobiography, considering that that person had already written one, and moreover, that that person has been dead for almost ninety years.

CWR: I was hoping to get to that.

Ahlquist: To answer your first question, I had been gathering passages, both short and long, of G.K. Chesterton’s writings where he actually talked about himself, something he rarely did. I knew these offered an added glimpse of Chesterton, especially from the inside. I would occasionally drop a small bundle of these bits into a quotebox in Gilbert magazine.

After doing this for almost thirty years, I realized that there was probably enough material to weave together to create this book: a new narrative of his life in his own words.

CWR: Why did you feel another autobiography of Chesterton was necessary?

Ahlquist: Maybe “worthwhile” is a better word than “necessary.” Nobody complains that Rembrandt painted more than one self-portrait.

CWR: But you point out that some people are “disappointed,” as it were, by Chesterton’s original autobiography.

Ahlquist: Well, there is the repeated criticism that he showed notable neglect of the main character in that book. It seems it was easy for him to write about anything other than himself.

CWR: So you, in effect, found a way to get him to talk about himself.

Ahlquist: Rather, I snuck up on him and caught him talking about himself while he was talking about everything else.

CWR: Will readers find anything new in this book?

Ahlquist: They will find new stuff from Chesterton that they’ve never read before. I make it a point to draw primarily from his uncollected writings. Most of the material that comprises this volume has not been seen for over a century.

CWR: What are some of the surprises?

Ahlquist: I’ll give you a doubly disappointing answer. First, the most surprising, even astonishing thing about Chesterton is how utterly consistent he is. He simply does not contradict himself; he only confirms himself. So in that sense, he says nothing new, even if he says the same thing in a new way. But that is one reason people enjoy reading him and keep reading him. They want more of the same. However, there are some surprises in this book–but I’m not going to give away any of them!

CWR: Not even one little one?

Ahlquist: Okay, Chesterton once met Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula. I’ll bet no one knew that.

CWR: There was something about the book itself that I thought was surprising. You start with a timeline of Chesterton’s life, and it’s over a hundred pages long. I’ve never seen anything like that before.

Ahlquist: It’s a lot of fun, too. Almost irresistible. I know a guy who read it twice before proceeding with the rest of the book.

CWR: The main body of the book is a long chapter containing the narrative of Chesterton’s life in his own words, as you have drawn them and pieced them together from hundreds of sources. But you have several smaller chapters focusing on different aspects of Chesterton’s life.

Ahlquist: Yes, there’s a chapter on how he regards his great friend, Hilaire Belloc, a chapter on his conversion, and also a chapter on his relationship with the Devil.

CWR: And also a chapter that deals with what some consider the biggest controversy about him: his perspective on the Jews.

Ahlquist: Yes, unfortunately, he’s been accused of anti-Semitism, a charge he fully denies. I give him the opportunity to defend himself in his own words.

CWR: You include a chapter of poetry.

Ahlquist: Autobiographical poetry.

CWR: In fact, the title of the book is a line from one of Chesterton’s more famous poems: “The Donkey.”

Ahlquist: Each chapter title is also a line from that poem.

CWR: Why did you choose to do that?

Ahlquist: It is a poem full of paradoxes, like Chesterton. It is about a humble being, which is what Chesterton was. And it is about carrying Christ, which is what Chesterton did.

CWR: Congratulations. This book is a major accomplishment.

Ahlquist: It is Chesterton’s work that is a major accomplishment. I try to point to that, but most of all to point to what Chesterton spent his whole life and work pointing to: God.

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