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Micah Mattix
As Mark points out , Gary Alan Fine finds the erasure of Paterno’s sporting accomplishments Orwellian, but such a practice is not just the stuff of dystopian fiction. At Reflection and Choice , Steven L. Jones writes: Question: What do Joe Paterno and the Roman Emperor Nero have in . . . . Continue Reading »
In The Chronicle of Higher Education , Notre Dame sociologist Christian Smith defends Mark Regnerus’s research on gay couples and child-rearing against what Smith calls a progressive “witch hunt”: Whoever said inquisitions and witch hunts were things of the past? . . . . Continue Reading »
Johann Hari wonders if professional criticism is coming to an end , pushed out by armchair critics empowered by social media. If so, he suggests, we would lose a great deal. Critics do two things according to Hari. They provide consumer advice, and they help audiences grasp the . . . . Continue Reading »
It turns out that the more scientifically knowledgeable one is, the more likely one is to doubt the risks of climate change . To find out what some scientists find of little concern, read William Happer’s “The Truth about Greenhouse Gases” in last year’s . . . . Continue Reading »
Alexandra Peers has a wonderful review of Michael Findlay’s new book, The Value of Art , in the Wall Street Journal : A decade into the 21st century, no clear movement or style has emerged to mark contemporary art. No Impressionism, Modernism, Minimalismno single . . . . Continue Reading »
What has happened to literary journalism that something like this gets published in a national paper? John Donne’s Holy Sonnet 14a poem on Christ’s violent attack on the self’s evil heart that brings about salvationtells us, Roz Kaveney writes, . . . . Continue Reading »
Over at Books & Culture , Halee Scott reviews Craig G. Bartholomew’s Where Mortals Dwell —a book on the importance of place in Christian theology. I won’t rehash all of her points, but this struck me: Bartholomew notes that place has a formative influence on . . . . Continue Reading »
At Public Discourse , Mark Bauerlein argues that liberalism’s relativistic individualism has ruined the novel : Apart from the truth or politics of that statement, its consequences for the novel are certain. A good plot needs conflict, an unsettled situation whose outcome we care . . . . Continue Reading »
Rod Dreher linked to my piece on Gogol yesterday, and we got to discussing the difference between people who like Austen and those who like Russian novels. In an email, I suggested: In my experience, Austen fans love her because of the detailed character portraits, the . . . . Continue Reading »
Over at Books & Culture , John Wilson offers his books of the year . I love John’s methodology: the best books are those that first come to mind after a year of reading. Here are a couple of the more interesting titles: Apricot Jam: And Other Stories . Aleksandr . . . . Continue Reading »
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