The University Bookman

Reviewing Books that Build Culture

Join friends of the Bookman in New York City on December 8, 2025 for the Gerald Russello Memorial Lecture.

William F. Buckley Jr.: Literary Figure 

“…the American public intellectual might best be appreciated as a literary figure. Producing about 350,000 words for publication yearly at the peak of his career, Buckley was never at a loss for what to say or how to say it.”

Defending the Christian Faith

“In 100 Tough Questions For Catholics: Common Obstacles To Faith Today… David G. Bonagura, Jr. gives bite-sized answers to dozens of big questions about the faith.”

Revisiting Walter Lippmann

“Lippmann sought to be—and was—what might be described today as an influencer. As such, he never sought to wield power, but he long desired to have the ears and eyes of the powerful. Arnold-Forster is certainly not unaware of that. But it is never his central message. If there is such a message in these pages, and there is, it is his effort to make the reader aware that Walter Lippmann, believer in and defender of the efficacy of progressive government, was also Walter Lippmann, believer in and defender of both the reality and importance of empire in general and of the American empire in particular.”

Family Homes and Drive-in Churches

“After the optimism of the suburban boom, it all went bust. Mass attendance fell by 70 percent. Women’s religious life died out. Parochial education was crippled… The green grass of suburbia was starved into a desiccated, brown waste.”

William F. Buckley Jr.: Literary Figure 

“…the American public intellectual might best be appreciated as a literary figure. Producing about 350,000 words for publication yearly at the peak of his career, Buckley was never at a loss for what to say or how to say it.”

Education in the Light of Glory

Education in the Light of Glory

“For those who already know and love Kern as a speaker and writer, this book will be a rich delight. Its insights reward the reader on every page. Those not familiar with Kern, however, may be taken aback by the extent of his reveling in layered analogies, intricate structures, and ultimate mysteries.”

Connecting with Aquinas, Connecting with Ourselves

Connecting with Aquinas, Connecting with Ourselves

“Attempting to summarize the thoughts of one of the Church’s most prodigious figures, let alone connect them to contemporary culture, is no small task and Keenan knows it. His book does not pretend to be more than it is: a new lens to read Aquinas through.”

Et in Arcadia Ego

Et in Arcadia Ego

“Poetry, particularly poetry of this kind, has been proclaimed dead too many times to count. Still, elect souls will hear the music of the pan-pipes on the wind.”

Making It Home

Making It Home

“The perils and wonders of the journey home pervade Bilbro’s entire collection, through a variety of verse forms and subjects, many of which are seemingly mundane, as in ‘Listening to the Iliad while Raking Leaves…'”

Aging White Male Future Shock: The Contemporary Relevance of a Sociological Classic

Aging White Male Future Shock: The Contemporary Relevance of a Sociological Classic

“’Future Shock?’ I use that phrase to characterize what I have observed as the predicament—or (as they might view it) the ‘plight’—of aging white males who are buffeted by a host of new developments, ranging from the #MeToo and Black Lives Matters movements to revolutionary technologies of the digital world, that have confused or even paralyzed them.”

The Intrinsic Argument for Free Speech

The Intrinsic Argument for Free Speech

“Core to Turley’s argument is that free speech is justified in the natural law—by which he means modern natural law. Free speech must attach to any coherent understanding of individual rights. In this, Turley is solidly in the liberal tradition. But his argument goes further, drawing from a more nuanced understanding of the person than we often regrettably find in liberal philosophy.”

The Visionary Stigmatists and the Hope of Mercy

The Visionary Stigmatists and the Hope of Mercy

“…Kengor proceeds in his history of key stigmatists through Christian history, looking at the medieval stigmatists of renown including Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Catherine of Sienna, to more modern stigmatists of the past century including Saint Padre Pio and Saint Faustina.”

Challenging the Contraceptive Mind

Challenging the Contraceptive Mind

“…philosophy underlies her work and makes itself evident throughout. Though she applies economic terms to her findings about childbearing—with language of costs and benefits—and draws conclusions about economics and policy, Pakaluk is fundamentally making, alongside her subjects, a philosophical argument about the value of human life. Together with the women of her sample, Pakaluk maintains that children are blessings worth living and dying for, and that having one more child is always a blessing.”

The Book Gallery

A collection of conversations with Bookman editor Luke C. Sheahan and writers and authors of imagination and erudition.

How to Love What is Permanent
Sarah Reardon on "Love What Lasts: How to Save Your Soul From Mediocrity" by Joshua Gibbs.
@CirceInstitute

Personalism in the Age of AI Grant R. Martsolf on "Personalism for the Twenty-First Century: Essays in Honor of David Walsh" Edited by Thomas W. Holman and Richard Avramenko.
@RLPublisher

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