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.
Russell Kirk and The Conservative Mind
“With eloquence and conviction Kirk demonstrated that reflective conservatism is neither a smokescreen for selfishness nor the ritual incantation of the privileged. It is an attitude toward life with moral substance of its own.”
The Conservative Mind at 70
“[Kirk’s] own brand of conservatism admitted principles but regarded ‘positions’ and ‘dogmata’… with hostility. He blended a nostalgic romanticism with a Burkean faith in the advantages of tradition and ‘sound prejudice.'”
Whispers From Kirk
“The challenge for conservatives is to create a substantive program within their own tradition without having to feed off the carcass of liberalism.”
It All Began in Old Mill Basin, Brooklyn: A Tribute to Gerald J. Russello on the Second Anniversary of His Death
“During his own adventurous sojourn in this world, Gerald J. Russello did well as a child from the neighborhood…”
Kennan: The Fallible Prophet We Need
“…Congdon views Kennan as a ‘guide’ whose wisdom and prudence can bring America back from the edge of international and domestic abyss.”
Cities, as Social Science Sees Them
“Whatever hope… American cities might have depends on time-tested, filtered wisdom, not on a haughty, overpaid consultants’ findings or ivory tower social scientists’ musings.”
Upcoming Event: The Gerald Russello Memorial Lecture
On November 15, The University Bookman and friends will hold a memorial lecture in honor of Gerald Russello, longtime editor of The University Bookman. Dr. Dermot Quinn, Professor and Director of Graduate Studies at Seton Hall University, will speak on Gerald Russello and the Art of Memory.
The Lost Art of Memento Mori
“To acknowledge and respect the end to which we are destined, to meditate and learn to bear the thought of it—this is one of the ancient disciplines which we have, beyond all argument, let fall into oblivion, and which we must, past all denial, dedicate ourselves to recovering.”
Fundamentally Religious and Catholic
“…a comprehensive portrait of Tolkien’s religious life and thought has been lacking. Holly Ordway supplies that needed ‘spiritual biography’ decisively. Through exhaustive research and insightful analysis, she recounts Tolkien’s lifelong, tested, textured engagement with Roman Catholicism, and thereby establishes how fundamental it was to his identity as a person and a writer.”
The Book Gallery
A collection of conversations with Bookman editor Luke C. Sheahan and writers and authors of imagination and erudition.
Great fiction can form character and cultivate the moral imagination. @JeffOttoNelson reviews @cjscalia's latest book.
Smith’s claims are sobering, but they do raise important questions related to how to be religious and pass on the Christian faith in the modern age. - @PhilDavignon
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