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.
Catholic Book Club
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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.
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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.”
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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.
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The Black authors all Catholics should read
As we celebrate Black History Month, we recognize Black authors from past and present, including two prominent theologians.
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Why are Catholic writers so boring?
In addition to his novels and screenplays, Myles Connolly was an occasional contributor to America—and one with bold opinions.
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Race, religion and roundball: Two new books on basketball
Father Kevin Spinale, S.J. offers his thoughts on the two latest selections of the Catholic Book Club: ‘Miracles on the Hardwood’ and ‘I Came as a Shadow’.
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Walker Percy, master of prose (and king of snark)
The author of “The Moviegoer” and other distinguished novels was also an occasional book reviewer and commentator for America, and his prose in our pages shone as well.
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The Catholic Church is no stranger to banning books—and we know it (almost) always backfires.
The news that Maus, a graphic novel about the Holocaust, had been removed from school curricula was a reminder of one of our nation’s favorite pastimes: book bans.
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A peace activist with a monastic temperament: Remembering Jim Forest
Jim Forest, who died on Jan. 13, was a lifelong peace activist and the author of numerous books, including biographies of Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton and Daniel Berrigan, S.J.