Men's college basketball's finest squad did not come from one of the N.C.A.A. powerhouses of the past three decades, but from the University of San Francisco, where Bill Russell led the team to consecutive national championships in 1955 and 1956.

George Dunne, S.J., never backed down from a fight or a perceived injustice in a long career as a priest, academic and activist.

In 'Katherine Drexel and the Sisters Who Shared Her Vision,' the historian Margaret McGuinness has performed another valuable service to American Catholic history.

In 'August Wilson: A Life,' an excellent new biography by Patti Hartigan, we read of the winding path that led Wilson to his ascendance, then delves into the tumults and triumphs of his two decades at the heights of achievement.

Vincent Lloyd's 'Black Dignity' is is a profound challenge to anyone who takes seriously the struggle for human dignity, antiracism and the work of dismantling white supremacy.

The ambitions of these two comedies could hardly be more disparate, yet the craft employed in both is rooted in similarly precise calibrations of our attention and sympathies.