Books
The troubling tale of a priest who loses his faith
The short story “San Manuel Bueno, Martir” by the Spanish existentialist Miguel de Unamuno can help us to sort out the feelings of the unbelieving minister.
Editor’s note: Welcome to Spring Books 2020
From features on contemporary writers to looks back at some of our greatest literary figures, along with poetry, biography, social criticism and more, our Spring Books 2020 issue has something for everyone (well, almost everyone).
What maps reveal about our surroundings (and ourselves)
Like language, cartography is a miracle that insists the unique slice of universe we view from the perspective of our own minds and hearts is—against all odds—expressible.
The novelist who mentored a young Flannery O’Connor
At the start of their correspondence, Flannery O’Connor was the gifted student and Caroline Gordon was the seasoned, exacting teacher.
The Catholic Book Club: From contemporary poetry to a study of Mary Magdalene
We have found at the Catholic Book Club that different genres and authors inspire different readers and broad variations in discussion, another reason to mix it up a bit in terms of genres and styles. Our two most recent selections have been no exception.
Review: What lapsed Catholic writers can teach us about our faith
The fiction of Catholic writers (and their lapsed Catholic brethren) has been described as “an invitation to mystery, not mastery, to communion, not control.”
How Catholic theology helped me understand Thomas Chatterton Williams’ controversial take on race
Thomas Chatterton Williams, a fierce critic of identity politics, urges readers to move beyond a black-white binary in discussing or thinking about race in the United States.
Subway mysticism: How Madeleine Delbrêl transformed my commute
The church needs Madeleine Delbrêl’s words and example to transform our vision of one another, whether across ecclesial lines or simply across the subway aisle.
Review: Barry Lopez on the mystery of distant environments
Barry Lopez’s new book describes his experiences at six remote sites around the globe: a rugged cape on the Oregon coast; centuries-old human settlements in the Canadian high Arctic; the complex biome of the Galápagos Islands; early-hominid fossil grounds in northern Kenya; a British imperial penal colony in southeastern Australia; and fields of meteorites on…
Review: Jim Forest’s new memoir delves into his ‘unusual conscience’
Jim Forest’s memoir functions as both a personal history and a snapshot of a tumultuous era in American society—the 1960s—when Forest solidified his opposition to unjust war and his faith in active nonviolence.
Review: Thomas Edison’s life of ceaseless action
He is most well known for inventing the light bulb and the phonograph, but Thomas Edison patented 1,093 “machines, systems, processes, and phenomena.” In 1881, Edmund Morris writes, Edison was “executing, on average, one new patent every four days.”
What Evelyn Waugh saw in America (An Anglo-American romance)
Noted for his acid tongue, Evelyn Waugh hated the United States and its citizens and let them know it. However, he felt more and more drawn to them on repeated visits.
A love song for Ernest Gaines
Ernest Gaines wrote a number of classic novels, including “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.”
Poetry
The Sand and the Stars
Well, I am shy of miracles and shy of the talk of miracles.
The Manatee
After the word is forgotten and discovered, and streamed until it’s nothing, she is not here.
Politics
Faith
Culture
Vatican
Scripture
Podcasts