Cultural Critic, Cultural Christian
by Peter J. LeithartClive James—literary and film critic, poet, memoirist, travel writer, novelist, and cultural critic—died on November 24, 2019. Continue Reading »
Clive James—literary and film critic, poet, memoirist, travel writer, novelist, and cultural critic—died on November 24, 2019. Continue Reading »
Is Philip Pullman actually any good, or he just popular with the cultural elite because he is anti-Christian? Continue Reading »
Téa Obreht's second novel, Inland, brings the Balkans and the Arizona desert together. Continue Reading »
Toni Morrison's novels explore race and gender, but also show Morrison's refusal to be scandalized by evil. Continue Reading »
We often blame the unfavorable treatment of traditional religion in contemporary art on animus or ignorance. Sometimes that’s an accurate assessment. But we underestimate how devilishly difficult it is to depict devout, God-centered characters convincingly, without making them plastic saints or . . . . Continue Reading »
Jeeves and the King of Clubs: A Novel in Homage to P.G. Wodehouse by ben schott little, brown, 320 pages, $27 Jeeves and the Wedding Bells: An Homage to P.G. Wodehouse by sebastian faulks st. martin’s, 256 pages, $25.99 Aunts, Comrades, Gentlemen . . . According to Hilaire Belloc, . . . . Continue Reading »
This Present Darkness by frank e. peretti crossway, 375 pages, $14.99 As a teenager, I was convinced that a spirit of false prophecy had attached itself to my neck. This spirit’s name—according to one of our youth group leaders—was Python, after the Pythia, or Oracle of Delphi. I did . . . . Continue Reading »
Appointment in Arezzo: A Friendship with Muriel Spark by alan taylor polygon, 244 pages, $18.95 Muriel Spark Centenary Editions by muriel spark polygon, 4,156 pages, £219.78 A Good Comb: The Sayings of Muriel Spark edited by penelope jardine new directions, 96 pages, $13.95 One . . . . Continue Reading »
The Kingdom by emmanuel carrère farrar, straus and giroux, 400 pages, $28 The genius and the apostle are alike, according to Kierkegaard, in that both bring new ideas into the world. But there’s a crucial difference. Geniuses are ahead of their time, and, consequently, the knowledge they bring . . . . Continue Reading »