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.
The Ancient-Modern Quarrel over Tragedy
Grant Havers reviews Tragedy, the Greeks, and Us by Simon Critchley.
Thebes Gets Its Due
Clayton Trutor welcomes Paul Cartledge’s new book on ancient Thebes.
Salvation Through Compassion?
Paul Krause reviews Roger Scruton’s treatment of Wagner’s Parsifal.
What Literature Makes Happen
Eric Hutchinson draws on the Reformer Philip Melanchthon to look at literature as a shortcut to wisdom for living well.
Mental Anchors for Information Overload
Kevin Holtsberry reviews Alan Jacobs’s Breaking Bread with the Dead.
Kierkegaard Is for Lovers
Asher Gelzer-Govatos welcomes Philosopher of the Heart, Clare Carlisle’s new introduction to Søren Kierkegaard.
Innovation Through Constraint
Matthew Stewart reviews Scott Newstok’s How to Think Like Shakespeare.
Properly Dangerous Ideas
Chris Butynskyi reviews Chuck Klosterman’s collection Raised in Captivity.
Bradbury in the Afternoon
James E. Person Jr. reviews the final volume of Jonathan Eller’s biography of Ray Bradbury.
The Book Gallery
A collection of conversations with Bookman editor Luke C. Sheahan and writers and authors of imagination and erudition.
