Books
A Dog Walks into a Nursing Home, by Sue Halpern
Pransky, a middle-aged Labradoodle, was bored. So was Sue Halpern, Pransky's owner. Then Halpern learned about Therapy Dogs International.
Robert McAfee Brown, selected with an introduction by Paul Crowley
Decades ago when I was a graduate student at Union Seminary in New York City, Robert McAfee Brown was the hot young teacher of theology.
How Jesus became God
Geza Vermes provides a compelling sketch of the charismatic trajectory in ancient Judaism and locates Jesus within that pattern.
A toast for Robert Farrar Capon
Robert Farrar Capon died last week, at the age of 88. Capon was an Episcopal priest and the author of 20 books, ranging from marriage manuals to novels.
The first time I heard Capon’s words, I saw visions.
Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, by Helen Simonson, and Maine, by J. Courtney Sullivan
Both Helen Simonson and Courtney Sullivan write tales of generational misunderstanding in which the elder's voice has the last, not very pretty word.
Travels with Dan Brown
I find Dan Brown's use of the word fact charming. Fact: I'm powerless to say precisely what he means by it.
Atchison Blue, by Judith Valente
The changed color of glass is an apt metaphor for Judith Valente's transformation by the light of the Gospels and the lives of Benedictine sisters.
The power of sisterhood
In Sisterland, Curtis Sittenfeld continues writing about women but not only for women.
Health and wealth
Kate Bowler chronicles how millions of Americans came to see not just wealth but also health as a birthright of the born again.
The politics of Little House
Having grown up with the Little House books, I found Christine Woodside's essay on their anti-New Deal ideology completely fascinating.