In Haven's collection, Girard's mimetic theory, with its ever-increasing range of applicability, comes forth forcefully. He had the rare gift of narrating ideas. Yet there is something else that the book reveals, which not only makes it a compelling read but deserves at least as much attention: the portrait of René Girard as a major public intellectual and one of the most seminal thinkers of our time; his uncompromising unorthodoxy and unusual position in American academia; the fascinating case of someone who, as a matter of both scholarly method and personal lifestyle, always seems to go against the flow, no matter the consequences.

Commonweal Magazine

Interviewers solicit his views on topics ranging from U.S. partisan politics to jihadist terrorism to anorexia. The result is a portrait of an intellectual with a supple mind in dialogue with an eclectic array of influences.

Washington Examiner

For those already acquainted with Girard, the book is a good refresher, for those yet to engage with him, a good introduction. All will find abundant evidence that Girard is an invaluable interlocutor in conversations on the perennial problems of the human condition.

The Irish Catholic

Cynthia Haven's fascinating new collection, Conversations with René Girard: Prophet of Envy, showcases Girard at both his most typical and his most surprising … [It] offers a salutary reminder that the dialogue can still be one of the most provocative and valuable argumentative methods.

Los Angeles Review of Books

Girard was one of the last giants of Western culture to try to give us a little breadth and meaning.

Il Foglio (Bloomsbury Translate)

A vital book. It gave me René Girard as I've never before encountered him in a text: like looking at a diamond from eighteen different sides. Each interview reveals the fecundity of his thought and the brilliance of a mind that was able to probe the human condition in a singular way. It's full of fire.

Luke Burgis, Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship, The Catholic University of America, USA and Author of Wanting: Our Secret Economy of Desire