Why We Need Beauty

Why We Need Beauty

A Philosophy of Beauty: Shaftesbury on Nature, Virtue, and Art By Michael B. Gill.  Princeton University Press, 2022. Hardcover, 248 pages, $39.95. Reviewed by Lee Trepanier. Now neglected in the Western canon, Shaftesbury’s Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions,...
Russell Kirk vs. Fusionism: A Conflict in Name Only?

Russell Kirk vs. Fusionism: A Conflict in Name Only?

By Jason Jewell. This essay is based on remarks delivered at NatCon3 in Miami in September 2022. Fusionism, the strategy to form an alliance between political conservatives and libertarians during the Cold War, was hotly debated among primary figures in the movement...
Nihilism as Public Policy

Nihilism as Public Policy

Interventions 2020 By Michel Houellebecq. Translated by Andrew Brown. Polity Press, 2022. Hardcover, 314 pages, $25.00. Reviewed by Pedro Blas González. What makes Michel Houellebecq a singular writer for today is his understanding of postmodern man’s existential...
Betting on Catastrophe 

Betting on Catastrophe 

Where Next? Western Civilization at the Crossroads Edited by Roger Kimball. Encounter Books, 2022. Hardcover, 232 pages, $27.99. Reviewed by Mark G. Brennan. The smart money would bet that many of The University Bookman’s omnilegent devotees have already read The New...
The Celebrity-Industrial Complex

The Celebrity-Industrial Complex

Celebrities for Jesus: How Personas, Platforms, and Profits are Hurting the Church By Katelyn Beaty. Brazos Press, 2022. Hardcover, 208 pages, $24.99. Reviewed by James E. Hartley.  “The celebrity,” opined Daniel Boorstein, “is a person who is known for his...