The University Bookman
Reviewing Books that Build Culture
A Cautionary Note on the Ghostly Tale
Since most modern men have ceased to recognize their own souls, the spectral tale has been out of fashion, especially in America. As Cardinal Manning said, all differences of opinion are theological at bottom; and this fact has its bearing upon literary tastes....
The Two Hoovers
Herbert Hoover in the White House: The Ordeal of the Presidency by Charles Rappleye. Simon and Schuster, 2016. Hardcover, 551 pages, $32.50. The title and subtitle of this book do—and do not—accurately advertise what it contains. Something a good deal less than a full...
From Hungary to the Outback
Flight from the Brothers Grimm: A European-Australian Memoir by Valerie Murray. Sydney: Books Unleashed, 2016. Paperback, 184 pages, Aust.$20. “Only when one has lost all curiosity about the future,” wrote Evelyn Waugh in his autobiography, A Little Learning (1964),...
A Life Told by a Critic
William Faulkner: A Life through Novels by André Bleikasten, translated by Miriam Watchorn with the collaboration of Roger Little. Indiana University Press, 2017. Hardcover, 511 pages, $50.In his Foreword to William Faulkner: A Life through Novels, Philip Weinstein...
A Window on a Vanishing World
Comrade Baron: A Journey through the Vanishing World of the Transylvanian Aristocracy by Jaap Scholten. Helena History Press, 2016. Paperback, 404 pages, $24.I started reading this book filled both with excitement and dread. The former because I am Transylvanian, the...
American Chesterton Society Conference
We commend to our friends the upcoming conference of the American Chesterton Society, to be held this year in Colorado Springs from July 27–29. Fr. James V. Schall is among this year's presenters.
How to Implement First Principles
The Permission Society: How the Ruling Class Turns Our Freedoms into Privileges and What We Can Do About It by Timothy Sandefur. Encounter Books, 2016. Hardcover, 267 pages, $26.Timothy Sandefur, Vice President for Litigation at the Goldwater Institute, Adjunct...
On the Human Art of Cooking
In Anne Husted Burleigh’s book, A Journey up the River, she writes of the human home, its formation and functioning. It circles around three objects, each of which, in every human home, has its own history. These are the bed, the table, and the desk. The crafting of...
Spring Newsletter
The Spring 2017 Permanent Things Newsletter is now available, featuring a fresh design and news about recent events and publications from the Kirk Center and other friends. Among the highlights is a lecture this spring by Sir Roger Scruton at Villanova University,...
The Book Gallery
A collection of conversations with Bookman editor Luke C. Sheahan and writers and authors of imagination and erudition.