The University Bookman

Reviewing Books that Build Culture

Join friends of the Bookman in New York City on December 8, 2025 for the Gerald Russello Memorial Lecture.

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.”

How to Love What is Permanent

“Throughout the book, Gibbs pleads with his readers that we not only think of the soul in terms of salvation but also in terms of health. Good taste won’t save one’s soul. But it will nourish the soul and incline the soul towards virtue much more than the bad taste we will acquire from mediocre things.”

Personalism in the Age of AI

“Personalism is a philosophical movement that places the human person at the center of inquiry, affirming the inherent dignity, value, and uniqueness of each individual. While it spans both religious and secular traditions, its common thread is a commitment to defending the irreducible reality of the person in an age increasingly shaped by systems, technologies, and abstractions.”

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.”

The Martyrs Have Not Gone Away

The Martyrs Have Not Gone Away

“Well-researched and carefully footnoted, this new study of contemporary Christian martyrdom quickly draws the reader in through the author’s crisp prose and compelling stories of real people whose extraordinary courage stands in stark contrast to a world increasingly reluctant to live—or die—for anything.”

Principle and Pragmatism in Law

Principle and Pragmatism in Law

“Mixing experience with ‘balancing’—the idea that judges must weigh the pros and cons of a legal problem by attributing to ideas or interests a value—Dershowitz puts forth a jurisprudence of prevention. He embraces Holmes’s idea that ‘prevention’ and not retribution—the idea of just deserts—is ‘to be the chief and only universal purpose of punishment.’”

The Collapse of Constitutional Consciousness

The Collapse of Constitutional Consciousness

“…Huq sees a pattern of injustice where those who ‘bridle against government regulation tend to have an easy glide path into federal court,’ while those who contend that individual rights have been violated find the courts ‘less hospitable.’ He asks meaningful questions about the nature of justice and whether the Constitution supports a just society, yet he subordinates the procedural and structural elements of the Constitution, which give it a backbone and endow it with its strength, to ideological notions of fairness, equity, and cherry-picked rights. He misses the irony in that the very qualities he claims to champion are lost in any system that fails to adhere to procedural norms, including those which set limits to remedies by those acting on behalf of the government.”

Localism is Americanism

Localism is Americanism

“In this fine collection of essays there is not so much as a single hint that any sort of top down solution is the answer, much less a top down solution that requires either a big government or a political figure with something between near-dictatorial and dictatorial power. For localists, it’s bottom up all the way.”

A Theological Virtue in the Earthly City

A Theological Virtue in the Earthly City

“Through the lens of hope, Lamb shows how Augustine allows individuals to belong to the City of God and the Earthly City simultaneously, since all worldly concerns and endeavors are shaped by the love of God and contribute to man’s proper end of union with Him.”

Should We Be Good Bankers?

Should We Be Good Bankers?

“Pakaluk argues that the Gospel of Matthew can be understood as two major parts: the crediting and the debiting of salvation by Jesus Christ.”

Out of Many, One

Out of Many, One

“If we could summarize Fredriksen’s Ancient Christianities under one rubric it would be ‘context reveals content.’”

The Book Gallery

A collection of conversations with Bookman editor Luke C. Sheahan and writers and authors of imagination and erudition.

How to Love What is Permanent
Sarah Reardon on "Love What Lasts: How to Save Your Soul From Mediocrity" by Joshua Gibbs.
@CirceInstitute

Personalism in the Age of AI Grant R. Martsolf on "Personalism for the Twenty-First Century: Essays in Honor of David Walsh" Edited by Thomas W. Holman and Richard Avramenko.
@RLPublisher

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