The University Bookman
Reviewing Books that Build Culture
Join Kirktober and help support the mission of the University Bookman
Each week the Bookman brings you fresh reviews of the books that build culture, and essays that enliven the Permanent Things. Last year nearly 90,000 visitors engaged with the Bookman’s reviews, all free of charge and with no advertising to disrupt the reading experience. Our writers are touching hearts and minds across the globe with their reviews, bringing wisdom, creativity, and beauty to bear on the most important conversations happening in literature and culture.
Would you consider a gift to help us continue this work?
If just 1 in 4 of our readers contributed $10, we’d dramatically increase our capacity to recruit the brightest young writers and tackle more books and topics, all with a Kirkian angle. We’ve set a goal of raising $20k this month in order to continue our mission. Exceeding this amount will allow us to expand our work even more.
If you love the Bookman, and read us with regularity, we’d greatly appreciate your generous support this month.
With gratitude,
Luke Sheahan, Ph.D., editor
The University Bookman
P.S. As a special thank you to all Bookman supporters this month, we’ll send you a link to an audio recording of Ex Tenebris, one of Kirk’s best ghostly short stories. We think you’ll really enjoy it.
Campaign Progress
When Virginians Ruled (or, Against Political Nostalgia)
“Like previous critics of the Jeffersonians Henry Adams and Forrest McDonald… Gutzman highlights the perils of the ideological political style.”
The Inspiration We Need
“In sharing their beautiful journeys towards becoming Catholic, these theologians teach us that conversion is not a ‘process’ in the manner of producing a machine. Rather, choosing to embrace the Lord is the climactic moment of a love story that features God as the lover and us as the beloved.”
A Very American Historian
“,,,the South had something to teach other Americans, especially those Americans of the twentieth century who had an ‘oversized faith in American progress, American prosperity, and American invincibility.’ At least that was the idea of this ‘idea man’ as he dwelt on both the ‘irony’ and the ‘burden’ of southern history.”
Arguing the Unarguable Thing
“If one considers oneself to be pro-life, but is going by a ‘gut feel’ more than by facts, this book might be of considerable value.”
Why We Need Beauty
“This is an erudite and beautifully written book about a neglected thinker who deserves more attention in this age of ugliness and vulgarity.”
What Makes a Classic?
“Just what constitutes a classical work? Style, setting, language, acclaim…what are the criteria?”
Where Is Home?
“…’Who will keep our stories alive, no matter where we go?’ Perhaps that is a question even more poignant than ‘Where is home?’ especially for those who are either dispossessed of a homeland or simply feel rootless in a thousand small ways as they struggle to navigate this dizzyingly complex world.”
Russell Kirk vs. Fusionism: A Conflict in Name Only?
“Kirk called ideology the ‘negation of prudence’ and the ‘foe of imagination.’ Both prudence and imagination are key ideas in Kirk’s political thought. For him, prudence is the preeminent political virtue, and all good politics is inspired by the moral imagination.”
Restoring the True and the Beautiful
“…Klavan offers just the right prescription to postmoderns emerging from scientific materialism—and eager to be told what their stories mean.”
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.
Have you read Russell Kirk’s fiction? My dad used to joke that ppl thought there must be two different authors by the same name—one who wrote serious political tomes and the other who wrote supernatural fiction. Story offer below.
What is is like to visit the home of the traditional conservative movement in America?
@mich_enjoyer recently visited the Kirk Center in Mecosta and offers an immersive look at the grounds and ongoing programming of the @KirkCenter.
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