The box office success of “Gladiator II” is a reminder that many Americans are obsessed with the Roman Empire. They’ve been joined over the years by more than a few ‘America’ contributors.
Literature
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
Doris Grumbach, L.G.B.T. pioneer and fearless literary critic
Doris Grumbach was an accomplished novelist, literary critic, biographer and memoirist and an early pioneer for her books exploring L.G.B.T. themes. She was also a longtime book reviewer and essayist for ‘America.’
Posted inArts & Culture, Vantage Point
Doris Grumbach on the art of the book review
In 1960, novelist and literary critic Doris Grumbach reflected on the art—and science—of book reviewing, including Catholic books.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Movie Club
‘Brooklyn’: a story of welcoming the immigrant, now and then
Sometimes you have to leave home to find home. That’s the paradox of the immigrant experience, portrayed beautifully in “Brooklyn.”
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Review: Poetry of the seeking soul
A tourist who is out of time approaches the end of his or her trip and must return home soon. This is how the Rev. David May describes himself through his poems.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Review: The end of neoliberalism
In ‘Tyranny, Inc.,’ Sohrab Ahmari supplies a framework and examples of what has shaped the desperate plight of a growing number of Americans.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Review: Julia Alvarez riffs on ‘Arabian Nights’
‘The Cemetery of Untold Stories’ reads like a novel made up of all the stories that Julia Alvarez no longer wants to carry in bits and pieces in her head,. And Alvarez knows that we all are—and need to be—story creatures.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
Nabokov, ‘Lolita’ and the question of morally offensive art
‘Lolita’ may have been canceled, but Vladimir Nabokov remains the godfather of modern prose.
Posted inArts & Culture, Poetry
Why you should read Richard Wilbur’s ‘Love Calls Us to the Things of This World’
A hymn to mercy and love, “Love Calls Us to the Things of This World” springs to my lips when my heart is quiet. I teach it as often as I can for my introductory poetry students.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
The art of the presidential tell-all book
Much ink has been spilled over this presidential election—but not nearly as much as was used in a long history of presidential memoirs and biographies.