The University Bookman

Reviewing Books that Build Culture

Support the University Bookman during our annual Kirktober Fundraiser, and receive an audio copy of Kirk’s short story, What Shadows We Pursue.

Kirktober 2025: James Panero and Adam Simon on the Haunted House

October 28, 2025

On Tuesday, October 28, at 6:00 PM, you are invited to join University Bookman editor Luke Sheahan, Hollywood screenwriter Adam Simon, and New Criterion executive editor James Panero, as they explore the theme of the haunted house in gothic literature and its relationship to conservative thought and imagination.

Register for this free webinar here.

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.”

Christopher Dawson and Pluralism

“In particular, I want to examine three aspects of Dawson’s thought: his conclusion that cultures, especially Western culture, historically have been pluralist; his contention that a pluralism of cultures preserves a sphere of freedom from dominant modern ideologies that would eliminate that freedom; and finally, Dawson’s conviction that a pluralist world represents a new opportunity for evangelization.”

Trust and Hope as the Final Words

“Each poem is biblically rooted, but Kohler draws on extra-biblical sources and her own creative imagination to ponder what her characters may have been thinking during the pivotal moments of their mostly undocumented lives. The result is a beautiful exploration into the hearts and minds of the women of the Bible—both named and unnamed—that leaves readers feeling as though the women are imminently present, sharing their innermost thoughts and the overlooked aspects of their experiences.”

The Other Greek Woman

“Felson’s Penelope, who seems, in all probability, very close to Homer’s Penelope, is the faithful wife of Odysseus, but she is also the independent and flirtatious matriarch who rules over her household and teases the suitors, whom she views as her ‘geese.’”

Lectures on What Can’t Be Taught

by Scott Beauchamp | Oct 22, 2017

Literature Class by Julio Cortázar. New Directions, 2017. Paperback, 280 pages, $19. The question of whether or not creative writing is something that can be taught isn’t a perennial one, at least not explicitly or directly. The American MFA program, with its tens of...

Mark Twain, Huckster

by Staff | Oct 15, 2017

How Not to Get Rich: The Financial Misadventures of Mark Twain by Alan Pell Crawford. Houghton Mifflin, 2017. Hardcover, 240 pages, $27.How Not to Get Rich: I could write a book on that subject! Happily, Alan Pell Crawford, author mostly recently of the thoughtful and...

Organizing Victory

by Kyle Sammin | Oct 15, 2017

Stanton: Lincoln’s War Secretary by Walter Stahr. Simon & Schuster, 2017. Hardcover, 768 pages, $35. Reviewed by Kyle Sammin The Civil War is often remembered from the point of view of the soldiers. Their stories of strategic genius and individual heroism on both...

Budziszewski Lecture in Grand Rapids

by Staff | Oct 12, 2017

The Society for Law and Culture is joining with the Christian Legal Society in sponsoring a lecture by J. Budziszewski titled “Natural Law: Why and So What?” The event will be held at Cooley Law School in Grand Rapids, MI, on Thursday, November 2, 2017, beginning at...

Which Alexander?

by Staff | Oct 8, 2017

The First European: A History of Alexander in the Age of Empire by Pierre Briant, Translated by Nicholas Elliott. Harvard University Press, 2017. Hardcover, 496 pages, $35. After Alexander the Great died, a wilderness of legends about the boy-conqueror flourished. In...

Reclaiming Corrington

by Daniel James Sundahl | Oct 8, 2017

The Southern Philosopher: Collected Essays of John William Corrington edited by Allen Mendenhall. University of North Georgia Press, 2017. Paperback, $30. I’m guessing it was spring of 1991; Andrew Lytle was on my college campus to receive an honorary Doctor of...

Attack of the Theses

by Staff | Oct 1, 2017

Remembering the Reformation: An Inquiry into the Meanings of Protestantism by Thomas Albert Howard. Oxford University Press, 2016. Hardcover, 216 pages, $40. Even if a person somehow did not know 2017 marks the quinquennial of the Protestant Reformation, she soon...

Sharing Nixon’s Ear

by Chuck Chalberg | Oct 1, 2017

Nixon's White House Wars: The Battles That Made and Broke a President and Divided America Forever by Patrick J. Buchanan. Crown Forum, 2017. Hardcover, 436 pages, $30.To read Pat Buchanan’s memoir of his tour of duty during President Richard Nixon’s White House wars...

Bridging the Gap to Patrick Henry

by Staff | Sep 24, 2017

Patrick Henry: Champion of Liberty by Jon Kukla. Simon & Schuster, 2017. Hardcover, 592 pages, $35.Judging by the local Barnes & Noble, the success of Hamilton: An American Musical has brought about a Federalist renaissance. Two years after its debut, as...