America’s spring 2022 literary issue has a little bit of something for everyone—including the historian in each of us.
James T. Keane
James T. Keane is a Senior Editor at America.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
Wounds, Shadows and Dribbles: The Catholic Book Club’s latest reads
A novel, a memoir and a history of men’s Catholic collegiate basketball were the three latest selections for the Catholic Book Club.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
Leonard Feeney said there was no salvation outside the Catholic church. Then he was excommunicated.
One of America’s finest literary talents, Leonard Feeney, S.J., rose to national prominence in the 1940s—but not for his prose or poetry.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
Talking truth and lies with the Norwegian novelist who won the Nobel Prize
Sigrid Undset wrote the famous “Kristin Lavransdatter” trilogy and won the Nobel Prize. She also was a sometime contributor to America during the Second World War after the Nazi invasion of Norway had forced her into exile.
Posted inFaith, Short Take
What would Jesus say about cancel culture?
Even a cursory look at Scripture shows that Jesus was not at all afraid to repudiate those who deserved it.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
The author you probably never thought of as Irish: John Steinbeck
John Steinbeck, who won the 1962 Nobel Prize for Literature, had many fans—and a few detractors—among reviewers in America over the years.
Posted inFaith, Lent Reflections
Is it really a sin to get angry?
A Reflection for the Friday of the First Week of Lent, by James T. Keane.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
For John Cheever, ‘mere facts’ had nothing on a good story
Called “the Chekhov of the suburbs” for his intimate if painful portraits of American suburban life, John Cheever was a prose master and, said one reviewer, “a boyish scamp.”
Posted inFaith
7 things you never knew about fasting
Fasting, in addition to being obligatory on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, remains a common Lenten practice for many. But there are nuances to fasting that are not always well-known.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
Paul Farmer, Graham Greene and the politics of liberation
What a 1965 novel by Graham Greene taught a young Dr. Paul Farmer during his first years working in Haiti.