Why read Chesterton today?

Recently I began reading G.K. Chesterton's Orthodoxy. So far, I've made it through the Introduction written by Philip Yancy, and part of Chapter 1. Actually, I've never cared much for Yancy's writings--he always seems so tentative and uncertain--I think because I just can't identify with what he's fleeing--fundamentalist, legalistic Christianity. Even in this small introduction, he continues to needle his strawman, stereotypical Christians. But he says in the Introduction that Chesterton revived his faith, and when he feels himself going dry, he goes to the bookshelves and pulls off a volume (in collected works it's possible he exceeds Luther and Calvin).

From the American Chesterton Society page:

All the issues we struggle with in the 21st century, Chesterton foresaw, and wrote about, in the early 20th century. Social injustice, the culture of death, statism, assaults on religion, and attacks on the family and on the dignity of the human person: Chesterton saw where these trends, already active in his time, would lead us. He was a witty, intelligent, and insightful defender of the poor, the downtrodden, the weak, and especially of the family. He loved good beer, good wine, and good cigars. He wrote in just about every genre: history, biography, novels, poetry, short stories, apologetics and theology, economic works, and more.

As a literary critic, Chesterton was without parallel. His biography of Charles Dickens is credited with sparking the Dickens revival in London in the early 20th century. His biography of St. Thomas Aquinas was called the best book on St. Thomas ever written, by no less than Etienne Gilson, the 20th century’s greatest Thomistic scholar. His books Orthodoxy and The Everlasting Man are considered the 20th century’s finest works of Christian and Catholic apologetics. And audiences still delight in the adventures of Chesterton’s priest sleuth, Father Brown, as well as such timeless novels as The Man Who Was Thursday, The Napoleon of Notting Hill, and others.

I like this quote (from Yancy's introduction): "I tried to be some 10 minutes in advance of truth and I found that I was 1800 years behind it." Whether this applies to Chesterton's conversion to Roman Catholicism or his personal beliefs, I'm not sure, but I know that if it's truth you're seeking it's best to return to the basics.
American Chesterton Society