George Scialabba has provided not just a profound account of depression, but a reminder of how precarious our lives can be, and how much we need each other.
The dashing, Johnny Depp-ian swashbuckler may live in our stories, but the motivation for “turning pirate” rarely has anything to do with a yearning for open waters.
The end-of-summer book rush is here: Jane Austen and the Brontës reimagined, poetry lauding birdsong and lamenting Twitter, and new novels by familiar authors.
The Religious Left has been here all along, engaging in protests and helping the vulnerable, a coalition of coalitions not tied to a single faith or set of policies.
Although the Union defeated the Confederacy, the Civil War did not eliminate the Confederate worldview. The oligarchic ideology grew and spread to the American West.
Joanna Kavenna’s latest dystopian novel tackles surveillance capitalism and artificial intelligence with sharp satire, intelligence, and faith in the human spirit.
Many of us are familiar with the absurdity-unto-death that is working remotely. Forget the zoom-and-gloom: put down your devices and pick up these new books.
David Bentley Hart’s book makes the case for universal salvation, arguing that a belief in eternal damnation is morally repugnant and theologically insupportable.
Set in a miserable dystopia, Houellebecq’s latest novel is both thought-provoking and wearying, fronted by a hypercynical yet dangerously nostalgic narrator.
Constitutional issues—like guns or speech—are often seen as coming from opposite points of the ideological spectrum. But they may be more similar than we think.
Thanksgiving is at once the most traditional of holidays and the most radical. Even the best things we do are contingent on support and help from others.
In this episode, Commonweal editors and writers discuss what they've been reading this summer, touching on everything from David Hockney and Robert Caro to Jia Tolentino and Rick Steves.
The sport of hurling speaks volumes about Ireland. The country’s glories and perversities are both scrutinized and celebrated in Edna O’Brien’s novels.
The history of the Children's Crusade deepens my understanding of the present: yes, the “little ones” suffer, but they retain a sense of dignity, even hope.
