The Rev. David Tracy, who died on April 29, was a monumental figure in American Catholicism, renowned as a teacher, scholar, writer and mentor to thousands of theologians.
Catholic Book Club
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
Father sleuths best: Why priest-detectives make for good fiction
The genre of the crime-solving priest or religious might be a niche one, but it’s been around on the page and the screen for more than a century.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
Riley Hughes, an unsung literary jack of all trades
It is not an exaggeration to say that between 1940 and 1980, the author and critic Riley Hughes reviewed well over 1,000 books for different Catholic magazines.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
The history (and future) of covering conclaves
‘America’ is covering its 10th papal conclave this week—and while the technology has changed, the content remains much the same.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
Remembering Peru’s literary master, Mario Vargas Llosa
Mario Vargas Llosa’s long literary life established him as a monumental figure in Spanish-language literature and Latin American history.
![20160811T1325-1001-CNS-POPE-SYRIAN-REFUGEES [web]](https://i0.wp.com/www.americamagazine.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/20160811T1325-1001-CNS-POPE-SYRIAN-REFUGEES-web.jpg-388895.jpg?resize=770%2C480&ssl=1)
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
Pope Francis the bookworm
Pope Francis was a great lover of literature: He peppered his homilies, talks and even encyclicals with literary references from Dostoyevsky, Proust, Hopkins, Dante and more, and he also encouraged his flock to read broadly and often.
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‘The Great Gatsby’ got a bad review in America. A century later, how do we see F. Scott Fitzgerald?
F. Scott Fitzgerald was not a favorite of America’s editors for many years, but they all read ‘Gatsby.’ Everyone reads ‘Gatsby.’
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Seven decades in the classroom: The teaching legacy of Ladislas Orsy, S.J.
In a long life as a priest, teacher and scholar, Ladislas Orsy, S.J., left an impressive legacy at his death last week at the age of 103.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
‘Only baseball and love are eternal.’ Reflections on our national pastime
Sports hasn’t always been the most popular topic among America’s editors and contributors—unless it was the Grand Old Game, baseball.
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Remembering Flannery O’Connor (and her contributions to America magazine) on her 100th birthday
Perhaps no author’s name has appeared in ‘America’ more often than Flannery O’Connor’s over the years, from a 1956 editorial through to a story just last week.