What happens to the church when the people of the book no longer choose to read? We ignore this question at our own peril.
Literature
Posted inCatholic Book Club
‘Very casually Catholic’ White Sox owner Bill Veeck would have loved ‘pope hat’ night
Known for his quixotic ballpark gimmicks and unique promotions, Bill Veeck was also an advocate for racial integration and a generous Catholic philanthropist.
Posted inBooks
Moderates and liberals stopped going to church. We’re only beginning to see the effects.
In ‘The Vanishing Church,’ Ryan Burge presents a data-driven picture of how the American religious and political landscapes have transformed together over the past 50 years.
Posted inCatholic Book Club
Lessons from the Berlin Wall for Trump’s America: You can’t keep people in (or out) forever.
65 years ago, the Berlin Wall divided that city in two and became an enduring symbol of the Cold War. But do walls really ever work?
Posted inOf Many Things
Reading: It’s good for your soul
Reading well requires an act of trust to step into a world of words and thought that we did not create for ourselves. Christians: take note.
Posted inBooks
Review: Michael Mewshaw’s latest novel dwells in darkness—but offers a way out.
Readers of ‘Not Heaven But Paradise’ may feel like they have been through the hell of our contemporary world and also seen the only way out of the darkness.
Posted inCatholic Book Club
James T. Farrell was condemned by the church—and paved the way for American Catholic writers
James T. Farrell’s Studs Lonigan trilogy in the 1930s set him up as an enemy of a church that was aghast at his portrayal of human nature and, frankly, of the Catholic Church itself.
Posted inBooks
Review: Richard Bausch’s stories of grief, hope and memory
Richard Bausch’s latest collection, ‘The Fate of Others,’ affirms Bausch’s reputation as one of America’s greatest storytellers.
Posted inBooks
‘Winnie the Pooh’ made A. A. Milne rich—but not for the reasons he wanted.
A. A. Milne created “Winnie the Pooh” and all his fantastical friends—but was also a novelist, playwright, screenwriter and, by many accounts, a disappointed intellectual.
Posted inIdeas
No one reads anymore. But you should if you want to be a good Catholic.
If we really are entering a postliterate culture, what does that mean for faith?