In the following excerpted essay, Wood provides overviews of several Grail texts, beginning with a summary of Grail romances, their primary themes and motifs, and concluding with an examination of popular twentieth-century Grail-related material.

In the following essay, the Crowleys expound on Percy's Christian vision as it is expressed in his fiction and nonfiction, noting that the author often used Arthurian motifs in his writing to embody a Southern code of Stoicism. The critics also point out that despite Percy's theological stance, he did not shy away from using the Grail quest to parody the chivalric code associated with the South.

In the following essay, Thompson discusses the use of the Grail motif in modern fiction, including a brief analysis of four twentieth-century novels.

In the following essay, Newman remarks on the influence of T. S. Eliot and Jessie Weston on Ernest Hemingway, pointing out that Hemingway's writing reflected contemporary concerns over the breakdown of individualism that was often addressed by an interest in and the use of the Holy Grail theme.