Perhaps, as Joe Carter suggests , J.D. Salinger’s legacy is uncertain. I think better of him than others here seem to, but, regardless, man, could he write. Remember the end of Franny and Zooey ? “I remember about the fifth time I ever went on ‘Wise Child,’ Zooey tells Franny . . . . Continue Reading »
J.D. Salinger, author of The Catcher in the Rye , Franny and Zooey , and Nine Stories , is dead at the age of ninety-one . His son confirmed that he died of natural causes. As I wrote last June , since its publication in 1951, Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye has been the favored bildungsroman . . . . Continue Reading »
Disney ’s Three Little Pigs may appear to be a simple story. But as Ellen Handler Spitz notes, it’s a model of Aristotelian aesthetics : The earliest versions of the Three Pigs story are buried in time, although we do have nineteenth-century English renderings of it. I want, as a foil, . . . . Continue Reading »
Okay, can I admit that I have an utter fascination with Christopher Hitchens? While I grieve for the state of his soul, I admire his intellect and his ability to cut to the heart of an issue. Perhaps it’s because he’s an intellectual ninja who is, unlike of most public . . . . Continue Reading »
President Obama’s criticism of the Supreme Court, and Justice Alito’s reaction, have received a surprising amount of attention—given that Obama had thousands of words, widely broadcast, and Alito had a headshake and two words, unheard, possibly “that’s wrong.” . . . . Continue Reading »
My latest podcast delves into “nature rights,” which, I believe, could reasonably be depicted as neo nature religion. It isn’t just the constitution of Ecuador, as I have discussed before. Some US municipalities have passed ordinances giving “Nature” the . . . . Continue Reading »
Science explains why my wife and I get along so well: she’s exponentially more attractive than me. From the Journal of Family Psychology : Physical appearance plays a crucial role in shaping new relationships, but does it continue to affect established relationships, such as marriage? In the . . . . Continue Reading »
Typography from Ronnie Bruce on . . . . Continue Reading »
From Pastor Gregory Alms:That line is one of my favorites in Luther’s great hymn, A Mighty Fortress is Our God. I always get a lump in my throat as I sing it. I stand a bit taller and thrust out my chest just a bit in defiance of enemies, spiritual and otherwise.But it is a curious moment. For . . . . Continue Reading »
From an address by Archbishop Charles Chaput at the Fifth Symposium Rome: Priests and Laity on Mission: Having said all this, we still face a problem. And here it is: God has never been more absent from the Western mind than he is today. Additionally, we live in an age when almost every scientific . . . . Continue Reading »
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