A quarter-century after its release, Steven Millhauser’s ‘Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer’ shines a harsh but revealing light on some of the 21st century’s most powerful forces and enigmatic personalities.
Books
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Leonard Cohen’s Jewish and Christian imagery: ‘All that poetry was at my fingertips’
In this excerpt from her new book on Leondard Cohen, Marcia Pally examines his use of Jewish and Christian biblical images in the singer-swongwriter’s lyrics.
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French playwright Moliere’s fraught relationship with the Catholic Church: A fresh look on his 400th birthday
Molière faced opposition from church figures during his life over his controversial works. Four centuries after his birth, what religious themes and tensions can be found in his plays?
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Review: A tribute to a teacher
In his latest novel, Julian Barnes returns to his strategy of merging history, fiction and memoir to pay tribute to a beloved teacher.
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Review: When France invaded Mexico—and tried to impose a Catholic monarchy
For a brief period in the 19th century, Mexico was ruled by a Hapsburg prince installed by France and named emperor. The story is told brilliantly in Edward Shawcross’s new history, ‘The Last Emperor of Mexico.’
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Review: What Marshall McLuhan can teach us in the age of digital media
Marshall McLuhan’s media theories proved prophetic for the age of mass communications—and his religious beliefs played a role in his theories.
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Review: The sexual revolution has hurt both men and women. Where do we go from here?
Louise Perry’s argument against the sexual revolution raises a difficult question for readers: Given the fraught situation in which the sexual revolution has left many women and men, where do we go from here?
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Revisiting the magic and mystery of Thomas Mann
A look back at Thomas Mann’s ‘Reflections of a Nonpolitical Man’ and ‘The Magic Mountain’ reveals an author perpetually in exile—literally and figuratively.
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Pietro Di Donato’s ‘The Penitent’ tells the story of Maria Goretti’s tragic death from her perspective—and her murderer’s
Pietro Di Donato wrote ‘The Penitent’ because he thought it to be a profoundly human story—though both the murderer and the victim became larger than life in reality.
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Review: Understanding Pope Francis’ teaching about the spiritual value of time
Too many of us are attracted to a “spatial” life because we can control spaces and stop them from changing. But time, even when managed, is always beyond our control. In his new book, James K. A. Smith seeks to reorient us to the reality of human life as temporal.