Reading Culture Through Catholic Eyes: 50 Writers, Thinkers, and Firebrands Who Challenge and Change Us

By: James T. Keane

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“The best critics are omnivorous: they read widely, deeply, and sensitively. James T. Keane is a great critic, and Reading Culture through Catholic Eyes is an absolute treat for readers. Keane offers colorful and concise essays on 50 essential writers, ranging from the iconic (Toni Morrison, Cormac McCarthy) to the underrated (Andre Dubus, Brian Doyle) to contemporary talents (Kirstin Valdez Quade, Phil Klay). Keane’s wit and wisdom will inspire readers to follow his able lead on their own literary travels.” ꟷNick Ripatrazone, author, Longing for an Absent God: Faith and Doubt in Great American Fiction

“For those of us who thumbed through the lives of the saints during Mass but lamented how those lives failed to reflect our own, James T. Keane's Reading Culture through Catholic Eyes provides an inclusive and powerful new hagiography. This book is a deeply necessary catalogue of the undersung leftist Catholic tradition.” ꟷLaura E. Goode, Stanford University

“James T. Keane's Reading Culture through Catholic Eyes is really three books in one: a book about Catholic writers renowned and overlooked; a registry of the literary criticism undertaken in America; and an encounter with the amiably all-knowing sensibility of Keane himself.” ꟷPaul Elie, author, The Life You Save May Be Your Own and Reinventing Bach

“Among the favorite and familiar Catholic thinkers found in this volume, James T. Keane also adds the unexpected and the off-beat. Readers will find new voices to enjoy along with revelatory takes on old ones.” ꟷNatalia Imperatori-Lee, author, Cuéntame: Narrative in the Ecclesial Present

Enjoy this book. Add it to your library. Treat it like its own little library, and enjoy the edification and education, challenge, and joy of reading Jim’s informed cultural commentary on so many of our greatest writers, thinkers, and firebrands.—from the Introduction by James Martin, SJ

America columnist and Catholic cultural and literary critic, James T. Keane, brings together fifty varied voices--including some underappreciated ones--and reflects on their cultural, political, literary, and religious influence. His smart, accessible style brings thought leaders into conversation with a Catholic sensibility, opening unexpected insights into our current moment.

Among these fifty figures are John Kennedy Toole, Kirstin Valdez Quade, Dorothy Day, Jon Hassler, Mary Karr, Martin Amis, Toni Morrison, Graham Greene, Shusaku Endo, Andre Dubus III, Iris Murdoch, Colm Tóibín, J.F. Powers, Salman Rushdie, Mary Gordon, Wendell Berry, Thich Nhat Hanh, Sigrid Undset, Alice McDermott, and John Irving.

Reading Culture through Catholic Eyes combines Keane’s breadth of knowledge of literary and cultural voices with a deep background in Catholic theology and spirituality. For general readers who appreciate lively and relevant writing, this book is a must-have.

James T. Keane is a senior editor and award-winning columnist at America Media, where he oversees the magazine’s “Faith and Reason” and literary sections. With an MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University in NYC and a Master of Divinity degree from the Jesuit School of Theology, Berkeley, CA, he has taught at Fordham University and the University of San Francisco. A native of Los Angeles, he now lives in Hell’s Kitchen in Manhattan.

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Click Here For The Table Of Contents

Click Here For the Book Introduction