Meet Walker Percy

[close] "His face was one that knew despair, a despair that drove the search for what is meaningful—as a wayfarer, or as a pilgrim—in this world," says biographer Walter Isaacson of acclaimed author Walker Percy.

Percy was one of the most prominent American writers of the twentieth century and was known for his poetic style and moving depictions of the alienation of modern American culture. "With The Moviegoer, the novel, Percy set going contemporary American fiction," says Paul Elie, author of The Life You Save May Be Your Own.

In this mini-documentary video, Isaacson and Elie offer insight into Percy's extraordinary life and work. "I always felt that Walker Percy was on a search," Isaacson says. "He talked about it as if it were the driving force of his life."