At the outset of Moby Dick, Father Mapple preaches to a congregation of whalers. His text is the Book of Jonah, and it stands out as one of the most enjoyable fictional sermons of all time. After God has assigned him the task of preaching repentance to the city of Nineveh, Jonah flees “with . . . . Continue Reading »
After being displaced by detachment and suspicion, aesthetic pleasure may be making a comeback in criticism. Continue Reading »
Carmen Boullosa’s They’re Cows, We’re Pigs transforms a pirate adventure into a gripping meditation on utopia, embodiment, and brotherhood. Continue Reading »
Does the rise of screens spell extinction for books? Continue Reading »
Amidst Chaucer's satire lies a profound vision of the Church for the Church. Continue Reading »
In honor of classic Catholic education, some summer reading possibilities. Continue Reading »
Hidden beneath contemporary Russian nationalism is an old aspiration to embrace all humanity. Rekindling it will soften Russia’s presence on the world stage. Continue Reading »
“All my brothers went West and took up land, but I hung on to New England and I hung on to the old farm, not because the paint mine was on it, but because the old house was on it—and the graves.” That’s what Silas Lapham tells a Boston journalist in the opening scene of William Dean . . . . Continue Reading »
In South and West, her newly published notes from 1970, Didion checks into a series of motels on her trek across the Gulf South, a region sunk in history. Continue Reading »
The Face of the Buddhaby william empsonedited by rupert arrowsmithoxford, 208 pages, $49.95 William Empson (1906–1984) was not, as he is frequently said to have been, an “important critic,” but only because there is no such thing. By the same token, neither was he a unicorn, a square circle, . . . . Continue Reading »
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