Arts & Letters

About one-third of the way into Nick Cave’s Southern Gothic novel And the Ass Saw the Angel (1989), the…

The Sheltering Sky begins with one protagonist opening his eyes and ends with another refusing to open…

With psychedelics, I was sure—sure I’d found a Way, and even more that I’d only begun to…

If you have followed this column for a while, you will have gathered that there are a…

I grew up in Ireland in the 1970s and eighties. The parents of my friends, neighbors, cousins,…

An alarming number of children from Catholic families lose their faith during elementary and secondary school. By…

History and contemporary life often present reflective persons with terrible ethical and political choices. One current American…

October is almost gone (we’ve had a lovely fall season here in Wheaton), and it’s time—if you…

Jane Austen’s DarknessBY JULIA YOSTWISEBLOOD BOOKS, 86 PAGES, $8 A glance at the cover of Julia Yost’s…

I have long known who Mischa Elman was: one of the great violinists of the last century (1891–1967).…

No one will say it, but we know / today’s fresh-flamed hibiscus flower / reveals in one…

Thanks for playing. Here’s your consolation prize: / a mountain capped with fog, the sun behind /…

Cosmic Connections: Poetry in the Age of Disenchantmentby charles taylorharvard university,640 pages, $37.95 One way of telling…

Terrence Malick and the Examined Lifeby martin woessneruniversity of pennsylvania, 416 pages, $65 In his book God, Philosophy,…

The modern emphasis on individual identity hinges on the concept of authenticity. Today, we see people attempt personal…