America’s editors on some books that might catch our readers’ fancy in these final weeks of summer.
Literature
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
‘The destroyer of worlds’: 75 years of ‘America’ on Oppenheimer
A new movie treats the life of Robert Oppenheimer, the “father of the atomic bomb”—and someone whose exploits and commentaries received much treatment in ‘America’ over the years.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
Why so many Jesuit characters in sci-fi? Because the genre deals with God and the problem of evil.
When we think of science fiction, lasers and aliens might come to mind first—but it is also a genre in which religious imagination plays a role.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
Francis Talbot, S.J., the world’s spiciest Catholic editor
Francis X. Talbot, S.J., was for many years America’s literary editor, and later its editor in chief. He was also a saucy literary stylist who loved nothing more than a good argument.
Posted inArts & Culture, Vantage Point
The Agony of Writing
From 1933: A longtime editor of America offers his thoughts on the agony of writing—as well as some of its joys and rewards.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Review: The underlying philosophy of Black Lives Matter
Vincent Lloyd’s ‘Black Dignity’ is is a profound challenge to anyone who takes seriously the struggle for human dignity, antiracism and the work of dismantling white supremacy.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Review: A history of books dating back to antiquity
Irene Vallejo’s history of books found an audience outside of the academy because it speaks to present concerns and speaks on behalf of many book readers.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Review: Geetanjali Shree’s new novel is one woman’s surprising reincarnation story
Frank Wynne, chair of this year’s Booker judges, noted that translating ‘Tomb of Sand’ presented “huge challenges” because the novel is about words, language and storytelling, not just characters and plot. Another judge added that it is “safe to say this [novel] is like nothing else you have ever read.”
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Mom’s Still In Bed: Mona Simpson on family, fate and mental illness
Mona Simpson’s latest novel unfurls into a stirring cartography of the impacts of a mother’s deteriorating mental health on her three children.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
Why today’s students should read James Baldwin in school
James Baldwin’s novels and essays loomed large in the 1950s and 1960s, but they have fallen out of favor with teachers in many literature courses. Is it time for a revival of his works?