Of the several monks who taught us English, Father Allen was the easiest to relate to. Father P. was obviously gay—we used different terms in those days—which created a certain unease among boys during adolescence. As for Father G., though he was just a few years older than we were, . . . . Continue Reading »
Flannery O’Connor argued that the separation of matter and spirit, nature and grace, was fatal to the art of fiction, which requires an interest in characters, stories, and concrete details rather than problems, issues, and abstract statements. Novel-writing, she insisted, is “so very much an . . . . Continue Reading »
The wolves behind the fence at the Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem, New York, were lithe and rangy. They weren’t big. They didn’t slaver. They trotted up and down as our human guide told us charming tales of wolf-ambassadors, wild creatures who trusted their handlers enough to come out . . . . Continue Reading »
A new, charming series of short stories starring Agatha Christie's famous Miss Marple has just been released. Continue Reading »
After a teaching career of fifty years, I agree with E. D. Hirsch that the primary problem in American public education is not the high schools, but the poorly organized, ineffective elementary school curricula, including the idiotic books of childish fiction. Continue Reading »
Here are two forthcoming books that are worth reading not only for themselves but also for the larger conversations they represent. Continue Reading »
Andrew Zwerneman joins the podcast to discuss his new book, The Life We Have Together: A Case for Humane Studies, A Vision for Renewal. Continue Reading »
For reasons I haven’t been able to figure out, friendship—deep, genuine friendship—gets short shrift in contemporary fiction. The Chet & Bernie books are wonderful exceptions, and I am immensely grateful for them. Continue Reading »
The resurgent nationalisms of recent decades have been one response to the homogenizing impulses of globalization—but nation is not the solution to homelessness in Eugene Vodolazkin’s Brisbane. Continue Reading »
Twenty years after publishing his first novel—years he spent establishing himself, in incisive, often fearsome essays and reviews and nonfiction books, as a leading literary–cultural critic—Pankaj Mishra had a Damascene moment of sorts. He describes it in a recent essay for . . . . Continue Reading »
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