The editors of ‘America’ have been opining on what you should read for over a century. Some of their suggestions have aged better than others.
Literature
Posted inPolitics & Society, Short Take
Non-fiction can wait. It’s time to enrich your life with a novel.
Many of my acquaintances have given up “reading about something that didn’t happen.” But fiction has long-term and concrete value, both mentally and socially.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
Why the moon turns our thoughts to God
It has been 56 years since humankind went to the moon—but it’s still on our minds.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
The atomic nightmare turns 80: How Catholics reacted to the arrival of nuclear bombs
July 16 marks 80 years since the first atomic bomb was detonated. The specter of nuclear annihilation has been with us ever since.
Posted inArts & Culture, Poetry
T. S. Eliot can be intimidating. You should still read his poem ‘Marina.’
Whenever I teach a seminar on T. S. Eliot’s work, I spend the first day of class on ‘Marina.’
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
Anne Carr, the ‘founding mother’ of Catholic feminism in academia
A leading figure in academic Catholic feminism after the Second Vatican Council, Anne E. Carr was also a renowned scholar and an inspiration to generations of theologians.
Posted inArts & Culture, Ideas
David Foster Wallace, A.I. and the future of the humanities
Twenty years ago, David Foster Wallace delivered one of the most widely shared and admired graduation speeches of all time. It still rewards close analysis.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
God and man in America: William F. Buckley Jr.
As Sam Tanenhaus makes clear in ‘Buckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed America,’ it is impossible to understand American politics and culture without grasping Buckley’s immense influence.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Review: Aimee Semple McPherson, America’s first media evangelist
In “Sister, Sinner: The Miraculous Life and Mysterious Disappearance of Aimee Semple McPherson,’ Claire Hoffman delivers with a fast-paced page turner on the life of Aimee Semple McPherson. This biography brings into print another review of the achievements and personal failures of this major pioneer of media evangelism.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Review: Dave Barry gets away with it
Readers of Dave Barry’s latest, ‘Class Clown: The Memoirs of a Professional Wiseass: How I Went 77 Years Without Growing Up,’ will find enjoyable excerpts from many of his most notable columns, surrounded by additional memories, commentary and, occasionally, the perspective of hindsight.