The Center Holds

The Center Holds

The Midwestern Moment: The Forgotten World of Early Twentieth Century Midwestern Regionalism, 1880–1940 Edited by Jon K. Lauck. Hastings College Press, 2017. Hardcover, 306 pages, $40. Reviewed by Nicole M. King “The Corn Belt,” “America’s Breadbasket,” “The...
What Kind of Art Is the Videogame?

What Kind of Art Is the Videogame?

Shadow of the Colossus Directed by Fumito Ueda. Sony Computer Entertainment, 2005, 2011, 2018. Nintendo PlayStation, $20. By Ben Conroy Can videogames be art? This question plunges one immediately into the pitched battle about the definition of art. Perhaps some...
Sophomore Inclinations and the Research University

Sophomore Inclinations and the Research University

The Rise of the Research University: A Sourcebook edited by Louis Menand, Paul Reitter, and Chad Wellmon. University of Chicago Press, 2017. Paperback, 406 pages, $32.50. Reviewed by Pavlos Papadopoulos Historians of higher education are members of a small subfield of...
Framing a Life in Liberal Learning

Framing a Life in Liberal Learning

From the Cast-Iron Shore: In Lifelong Pursuit of Liberal Learning by Francis Oakley. University of Notre Dame Press, 2018. Paperback, 526 pages, $35. Reviewed by Weronika Janczuk The story narrated in any given memoir is dependent on the life of the one who narrates....
A New Apologetic

A New Apologetic

Steadfast in Faith: Catholicism and the Challenges of Secularism by David G. Bonagura, Jr. Cluny Media, 2019. Paperback, 308 pages, $19.95. Reviewed by Casey Chalk “When the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?” This question, asked by Jesus and recorded in...
The Lost Futures of Mark Fisher

The Lost Futures of Mark Fisher

K-punk: The Collected and Unpublished Writings of Mark Fisher Repeater, 2018. Paperback, 500 pages, $30. Reviewed by Ben Sixsmith In 2013, the British cultural and political theorist Mark Fisher wrote an article called “Exiting the Vampire Castle” in which he took...