Arts & Letters

A selection of recent articles on this topic

Coming Attractions for 2019

John Wilson

Two weeks from now, I’ll write in this space about some of my favorite books from 2018.…

Superheroes and Saints

Alexi Sargeant

Face front, true believers. Last week the world lost one of the few household names among the…

And All Shall Be Well

John Wilson

George MacDonald in the Age of Miracles:Incarnation, Doubt, and Reenchantmentby timothy larsenivp academic, 150 pages, $16 People…

The Bookish Life

Joseph Epstein

The village idiot of the shtetl of Frampol was offered the job of waiting at the village…

The Hawks in the Leaves

Robert W. Crawford

The silly chickens huddle in dismay.Each shadow cast by falling leaves they taketo be a hawk descending…

Redeeming Transcendence

John Wilson

We live in a time of disenchantment, or so we’re told. Strange. Our first text is an…

Harry Potter as Sacred Text

Joshua Mayo

Traditional contemplative practices are in right now—and not only with the religious and pan-spiritual types you’d expect.…

Wendell Berry Goes to School

John Murdock

Wendell Berry and Higher Education:Cultivating Virtues of Placeby jack r. baker and jeffrey bilbrouniversity press of kentucky,…

Sentiment Without Sentimentality

John Wilson

A Carnival of Losses:Notes Nearing Ninetyby donald hallhoughton mifflin harcourt, 224 pages, $25 Even in antiquity, some…

Art Rethought

John Wilson

I’m writing next to a stack of books, atop which is one of the most contrarian and…

Not-So-Old Mars

John Wilson

In 2013, Bantam published an anthology of new stories entitled Old Mars, edited by George R. R.…

Patterns of Piety

Junior Fellows

In this series, the First Things junior fellows share mini-essays on their current reading endeavors.  Ramona TauszAssistant Editor Vittoria…

Sex, Fear, and Idolatry

Angela Franks

Moral Combat:How Sex Divided American Christians and Fractured American Politicsby r. marie griffithbasic books, 416 pages, $32 Ever…

Medieval Studies and White Supremacy

Mark Bauerlein

Read properly, medieval history is about the divine comedy of Christianity—and about the rise of its great…

The Job of Ultimate Observer

John Wilson

The Ashtray (Or the Man Who Denied Reality)by errol morrisuniversity of chicago press, 192 pages, $30 Suppose that…