Judging by the Cover

by John Wilson

The Look of the Book nudged me repeatedly to hunt in my own shelves and stacks for books the look of which had caught my eye once upon a time. Continue Reading »

10 Dec 2020

Ron Howard’s Disappointing Hillbilly Elegy

by Gracy Olmstead

We are owed better films about Appalachia and the Rust Belt—about the “back row Americans” who are at once incredibly ordinary and incredibly extraordinary.  Continue Reading »

1 Dec 2020

A Year of Reading: 2020

by John Wilson

A Thanksgiving feast of book recommendations from 2020. Continue Reading »

26 Nov 2020

What We've Been Reading—11.23.20

by Editors

R. R. Reno on Geoffrey Kabaservice, Mark Bauerlein on Lewis and Clark, and Jacquelyn Lee on Mother Benedict.  Continue Reading »

23 Nov 2020

Solzhenitsyn: More Than Fashionable

by John Wilson

I find that most younger readers today, while recognizing Solzhenitsyn's name, have never read him. Continue Reading »

30 Oct 2020

Coming Attractions for Autumn

by John Wilson

Suffice it to say that we’re not likely, anytime soon, to run out of books (new and old alike) worth reading and sharing with others. Continue Reading »

1 Oct 2020

Against Racialism

by Darel E. Paul

Having fallen away from both Christianity and American civil religion, liberals in the United States are looking for something to believe in. The death of George Floyd on May 25 occasioned a religious awakening. Despite the coronavirus pandemic, Americans took to the streets by the tens and hundreds . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Oct 2020

Bookings to Utopia

by Peter Hitchens

Until surprisingly recently, most left-wing and liberal people were hesitant and equivocal about acknowledging the wickedness of the Soviet regime. The mere collapse of the Soviet Empire did not immediately change their minds. ­Robert Conquest, who told the truth about Stalin’s Great Terror in . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Oct 2020

Red Terror

by Gabriel Rossman

As American society was roiled this summer by civil unrest, purges, and struggle sessions, I read Frank Dikötter’s The Cultural Revolution: A People’s History, a recently published book that is newly relevant. The subtitle is a bit of historiographic trolling. “People’s history” is a . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Oct 2020

The Catholic Future

by Francis X. Maier

In the Catholic Church, synods of bishops are complex bits of theater. The pope sets the theme, observes the proceedings, and writes the “apostolic exhortation” that translates a synod’s work into teaching. Some post-synodal texts, such as Paul VI’s Evangelii . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Oct 2020