Love! Love! Love! The Poor Man of God is the fictionalized biography of Saint Francis of Assisi. The narrator is Brother Leone, a humble beggar wandering the world in search of God.

When he arrives in Assisi, he meets Francis, a wealthy nobleman tormented by similar quests. Francis believes that through Leone, God speaks to him. Thus, he abandons his wealthy life, clashes with his father, and, following divine commands, goes out into the world to preach love, the ideal of poverty, and the renunciation of material goods.

Leone follows him and supports him until his death. In The Poor Man of God, Kazantzakis brings God down to the level of man and traces the uphill path, from heaven to earth, which ultimately leads to freedom, fulfilling thus the highest duty of man, superior to morality, truth, and beauty: to transmute the material entrusted to him by God into spirit.

“Do not seek God; if you wish to find Him, close your eyes; if you wish to see Him, block your ears; to hear Him. That is what I do,” he said, and he closed his eyes, blocked his ears, crossed his hands, and began to cry.

And a woman, who was meditating in the forest, ran under the pines naked and cried out: “Love! Love! Love!” and beat her chest, and she could give me no other answer.

The new editions, with new covers and specially designed fonts, are accompanied by introductory texts and an afterword, which offer more details about the work itself and the era in which it was written.