Six top books on gluttony

"Among the list of the Seven Deadly Sins," writes Nicole Hill at at The Barnes & Noble Book Blog, gluttony, alongside lust and well-performed greed, is the most fun." One title on Hill's reading list on gluttony:

The Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri

One can only assume Dante’s description of the level of hell reserved for gluttons is similar to what was going on behind the scenes at the Wonka factory. For indulging too much in life, you will, in the afterlife, be subjected to the three gaping maws of Cerberus. Oh, and here’s Virgil with the weather: “It is still raining here, folks. Looks like pus, feces, and hail. Expect severe storms for the rest of eternity.”

Read about the other entries on the list.

Dante's work appears on Karl O. Knausgaard's top ten list of angel books, Jon McGregor's list of the top 10 dead bodies in literature, John Mullan's list of ten of the best visions of hell in literature, and Peter Stanford's list of the ten best devils in film and literature; The Divine Comedy is one of George Weigel's five essential books for understanding Christianity.

--Marshal Zeringue