The University Bookman

Reviewing Books that Build Culture

Watch James Panero of the New Criterion discuss “The Urbanity of Russell Kirk” at the 2025 Gerald Russello Memorial Lecture.

The Urbanity of Russell Kirk

“The urban fabric must also be mended and darned through continuous upkeep. The city is not yours to experiment. From Russell to Russello, our ancestral spirits cast their shadows whether or not we choose to observe the city of god in the cities of men.”

In Praise of Poetry and Form

“Majmudar often takes the long view, and from the long view, free verse is a new arrival in a variegated poetic history that stretches back into prehistory. To embrace it alone is to cut oneself off from that sweeping history and from the resources to be found there. There is still vitality in these neglected traditions. They are not a dead past.”

Monster is the Machine

“Few outside of Tolkien’s most dedicated students, however, were aware that he had written an entire satirical story against the automobile… [It] is (or rather was) the last significant piece of original Tolkien fiction to remain unpublished.”

After the New Left: Rereading Breaking Ranks

“The recent death of Norman Podhoretz prompted me to return to his ‘political memoir…’ Published in 1979, it deserves to be read or re-read today—and not simply as a historical account of his evolution from left to right during the 1960s and 1970s.”

Portrait of a Genius

Portrait of a Genius

Frank Freeman finds compelling reading the new and more accessible abridged edition of Portraits of Wittgenstein.

Sour ’68

Sour ’68

Joseph Bottum and Justin L. Blessinger help us put 2018 into perspective with a look back on the turmoil of 1968, when victory began wearing the death mask of defeat.

A Plodding Penn

A Plodding Penn

Carl Rollyson reviews a new and ploddingly authoritative biography of William Penn’s very quirky life.

The Book Gallery

A collection of conversations with Bookman editor Luke C. Sheahan and writers and authors of imagination and erudition. Click on the icon in the upper right corner of the video to see more episodes in this series or check out our YouTube page.

I have a review at the University Bookman (@KirkCenter) today of @AmitMajmudar's The Great Game: Essays on Poetics (@acre_books). Check it out 👇.

"No one...takes poetic hairpin turns at speed like Majmudar does. His poems are full of sonic swerves and surprises..."

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