Although the official America review will not be out for a few weeks I wanted to without treading upon the reviewer s field recommend Ron Hansen s new book Exiles It s a masterfully told novel or fiction based on fact that toggles between the Jesuit poet Gerard Manley Hopkins

So I m thinking of applying to a university for my Master s degree Part of me is excited about the opportunity Part of me feels a little ridiculous I have children who are old enough to think about getting a Master s degree I worry that my time for being a student has long passed It will

I am not sure why all three remaining candidates for president signed a joint statement from the Save Darfur Coalition Perhaps after such a long primary season which was so often focused on nitpicking issues it was time for a little moral posturing They noted that on this moral issue of tremend

Sen John McCain has long cultivated a political image as a maverick someone who is willing to reach across the aisle someone who will take unpopular positions challenge partisan orthodoxies someone you can count on to talk straight Like all political images there is truth in this characteriza

Yes I know I write a lot about Lourdes That s one of the hazards of being moved by something like a pilgrimage or a retreat experience But here s something new While the Order of Malta was on pilgrimage this year a few of the members of the Order followed our group around for the week a

Mark Stricherz s review of HBO s Recount for America is now online Mark once worked as a literary assistant here at the magazine and is the author of Why the Democrats are Blue Secular Liberalism and the Decline of the People s Party In his review Mark raises the provocative quest