Born in Britain in 1923, and educated at Eton and Oxford, Philip Trower is a Catholic writer of notable achievement. This alone merits attention—as there is much talk about the relative dearth of Catholic authors today—but Trower’s life and work offer something more, as they speak to questions that are being asked within the Church today. Continue Reading »
William Giraldi’s Hold the Dark, its jacket copy proclaims, is “an Alaskan Oresteia.” The comparison is perfectly calibrated to grab and hold this failed Classicist’s attention, and I found myself puzzling over it as I read. Soldiers come home from war, Continue Reading »
The Swedish Academy looks for lofty fiction, and has trouble with wit. Continue Reading »
Ian McEwan’s new novel shows how demands of art differ from the demands of polemic. Continue Reading »
With their new views of authorship, Romantics brought new views of legal protections of authorship. Continue Reading »
A funny thing happened when Michael Novak brought Herbert Marcuse to lecture to his students. It was the early-1970s when campus rebellion had entered its darker phase, and Marcuse was an idol of the Movement. His theory of “repressive tolerance” served as an essential touchstone for protest, and his volatile mix of Marx and Freud seemed an edgy, relevant style of intellectualized activism. Continue Reading »
A new biography attempts to understand, not judge, J.D. Salinger. Continue Reading »
Dean Koontz’s reading assignments are another reason to like Koontz. Continue Reading »
What happens if a critic is at his best judging poetry he detests? Continue Reading »
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