Books

Mini-Review The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft by George Gissing (1903) Choice quote: "But oh, how good it is to desire little, and to have a little more than enough!" Nerd heaven: An older writer who scrapes together a living receives a small annuity for life. It&

Mini-Review Introduction: If you find these reviews bizarre yet orthodox, I have accomplished my goal. If you find them entertaining yet profound, I am humbled. If they brings you a little closer to classic works of the twentieth century, I am gratified. If you forward the review to friends

Mini-Review The Conservative Mind by Russell Kirk (1953) Choice quote: "Hawthorne's chief accomplishment: impressing the idea of sin upon a nation which would like to forget it." My book still has that smell that all the books from that little bookstore in Niles, Michigan, had.

Background: When I was the editor of Gilbert Magazine [http://www.chesterton.org/explore-the-acs/gilbertmagazine/], I was responsible for the "Tremendous Trifles" column. It was occasionally hard to find a sufficient amount of interesting GKC material to fill the page, so John Peterson sent me a

Background: When I was the editor of Gilbert Magazine [http://www.chesterton.org/explore-the-acs/gilbertmagazine/], I was responsible for the "Tremendous Trifles" column. It was occasionally hard to find a sufficient amount of interesting GKC material to fill the page, so John Peterson sent me a

Mini-Review Plato and Aristotle by Eric Voegelin (1957). Volume III of Order and History. Choice quote: "Thanatos orients the soul toward the Good by relieving it from the sickness of appearance; Eros is the positive desire for the Good." Plato the mystic. Aristotle the scientist. Right? No.

Mini-Review The World of the Polis by Eric Voegelin (1957). Volume II of Order and History. Choice quote: Homer "strove valiantly for the insight that ordering action is action in conformance with the transcendent, divine order, while disruptive action is a fall from the divine order into the

Mini-Review Israel and Revelation by Eric Voegelin (1956). Volume I of Order and History. Choice quote: "A Prophet can hear and communicate the word of God, but he is neither a Philosopher or a Saint." Josef Pieper writes thick and thin books: books that are short but

Mini-Review Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1953). Choice quote: “'But I know something else you don't. There's dew on the grass in the morning.' He suddenly couldn't remember if he had known this or not, and it made him quite irritable.