Who wrote the 1955 spiritual autobiography Surprised by Joy?

C.S. Lewis wrote the 1955 spiritual autobiography Surprised by Joy.

Surprised by Joy traces Lewis’s intellectual and religious development from childhood through his conversion to Christianity. The title refers to a powerful longing or experience that Lewis associated with moments of imaginative apprehension, especially through literature, mythology, nature, and memory.

The book discusses his early life in Belfast, his education, his experiences during the First World War, and the gradual changes in his beliefs. Lewis describes moving from Christianity to atheism in adolescence and later returning to belief. His conversion story is also connected with conversations and friendships involving writers such as J.R.R. Tolkien and Hugo Dyson.

Despite its autobiographical subject, the book is not a complete record of every event in Lewis’s life. It focuses particularly on the history of his imagination and religious thought. The word “joy” therefore has a specialized meaning in the memoir rather than simply referring to ordinary happiness.