When the poet Hart Crane jumped from a ship to his death in the waters of the Caribbean on an April morning in 1932 alarmed crewmembers threw life preservers into the water after him Their rescue effort was not only futile but also ironic since Crane rsquo s father had invented the Life Saver can

John Updike's reflection on faith and writing upon his reception of America's Campion Medal in 1997.

Michael S. Dukakis delivered this address to the Kenna Club at Santa Clara University in California on Feb. 28, 1997.

The story spans 60 years, and as Broderick tells the tale of Roza Mojewska and Otto Brack he tells the story of Poland itself, touching on Hitler’s goal of annihilating the Poles to give the Germans space.

Alice McDermott has once again delivered a novel to ponder and cherish, from its moral quandaries down to its wry humor and hypnotic prose.

Tommy Tighe argues that being Catholic is hipster in itself. So, he contends, why not mine the tradition for its quirkiest customs and celebrate them without reservation?