SPRING 2021 THE JESUIT REVIEW OF FAITH AND CULTURE SPRING LITERARY REVIEW 2021 An American Catholic Pilgrimage Daniel Hornsby talks about his debut novel Jon M. Sweeney p8 Caroline Gordon’s Neglected Catholic Opus p14 Revisiting Following Christ in a Consumer Society p26 Mary Gordon Asks: What Kind of Catholic Are You? p58 1 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG SPRING 2021 AMERICA | PB ADVERTISEMENT 2 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG SPRING 2021 AMERICA | 3 ’ Welcome to Spring Books 2021 In the spring of 2015, I was blessed fiction; John Irving and Joseph Heller members an erudite scholar who took with the opportunity to travel to and Donna Tartt novels galore; a Chi- a blowtorch to our consumer culture El Salvador for the beatification nese-language original of Mao’s Little in 1981 (and again in 2006). ceremony of St. Óscar Romero (he was Red Book, of which I can’t read a word; There is much more in this issue: canonized in 2018). The Mass was an ten million books about Bob Dylan. reviews of new books, visits to old fa- intense and electric ceremony on its ¿Santo subito? vorites and forgotten treasures, po- own—hundreds of thousands packed There are a few books mentioned etry and more. We are also delighted the capital city’s Plaza Salvador del in this special issue I want to add to to have once again one of my favorite Mundo—but equally powerful were that collection, however, starting with writers, Mary Gordon, in our pages. the days before and after. Did you Daniel Hornsby’s Via Negativa. Jon Her “Last Word” column for this issue know that one can visit the saint’s M. Sweeney profiles both Hornsby ruminates on her new book project: apartment? Right across the street and his debut novel in these pages and What Kind of Catholic Are You? “I am from where he was martyred by finds the story of an aging priest driv- writing about living human beings, Salvadoran paramilitaries while ing across the Midwest in his aging many of whom have left enormous saying Mass, it has been preserved as Toyota (not a Corona, but a Camry) to paper trails,” she writes. “I have many it was the day he was killed, including be a pilgrimage “as real as any I’ve en- more affinities with some of these his bookshelves. countered in American fiction.” people than others, just as I have more If almost all one’s intellectual in- Another fascinating book profiled affinities with some of the fictional terests meet in the town of Nerd at the here predates Hornsby’s 2020 novel characters I have created than with intersection of Books and Church, the by 64 years (it also predates Hornsby’s others.” At the same time, “I believe chance to browse the library of a saint birth by half that number): Caroline that because the people about whom is an opportunity not to be missed. I Gordon’s largely unread novel The I am writing share with me a vocabu- crouched down on the floor, my nose Malefactors, reviewed in this issue by lary, a set of images and shared prac- an inch from the glass of the bookcase, Joshua Hren. A treatment of the “Lost tices (after all, when we hear the ‘Hail and perused the titles one by one. Generation” that ends with a powerful Mary,’ we all know the words), there He was learned: academic texts in story of conversion to Catholicism, are some firm grounds on which we Spanish, English and French. He was the novel centers on a dysfunctional can all stand.” practical: an owner’s manual for a Toy- couple immersed in a bohemian life- We hope you enjoy reading this ota Corona and a book on aerobics. He style who eventually find God in the issue as much as we enjoyed putting was pious: numerous short hagiogra- oddest of places. Flannery O’Connor it together. America offers these phies. He held different theologies in considered The Malefactors to be “un- special literary issues twice a year, tension: Karol Wojtyla’s A Sign of Con- doubtedly the most serious and suc- as a chance both to introduce new tradiction near a book by Hans Küng. cessful fictional treatment of conver- authors and to peer into our book- And he enjoyed a bit of lowbrow mate- sion by an American writer to date.” shelves, disedifying though they may rial: an English-language paperback of If nothing else, read it to speculate on be, for a beloved classic. Malachi Martin’s 1978 novel The Final whether the novel’s philandering hus- Conclave. It all seemed to fit. band who finds his way to God is based What will each of our bookshelves on Allen Tate. James T. Keane, senior editor. look like if we meet an untimely end? Another fascinating look back is I take comfort in the fact that no an appreciation by Joe Hoover, S.J., of looky-loos will have much interest in Following Christ in a Consumer Soci- mine, because they are far less edify- ety, by John Kavanaugh, S.J. Brother ing than the above. Mobster biogra- Hoover, America’s poetry editor and phies; censured theologians; science a newly published author himself, re- 2 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG SPRING 2021 AMERICA | 3 THE ISSUE LITERARY NEWS FEATURES REVISITED 6 8 20 Highlights from conversations on The AN AMERICAN CATHOLIC A LIFE FOR OUR TIME Jefferson Bible and This is Happiness PILGRIMAGE John S. Dunne’s journey with God Daniel Hornsby’s debut novel takes Jon Nilson us down many roads POEMS Jon M. Sweeney 26 PROPHET IN A BLACK 11 14 TURTLENECK WHAT THE NEWBORN SEES CAROLINE GORDON, LOST John Kavanaugh’s Following Christ in a WHILE HE FLIES AND FOUND Consumer Society Michael Higgins Revisiting The Malefactors, a neglected Joe Hoover Catholic novel 37 Joshua Hren I HEARD THERE’S WARM WEATHER SOMEWHERE Louis Damani Jones 4 | AMERICAMAGAZINE.ORG Dr. Hannah Thomas with a book from the historic library of the oldest living convent in England, Founded in 1909 Bar Convent in York on March 18. Rare books from the library, President and Editor in Chief Matt Malone, S.J. which was established in 1686, Deputy Editor in Chief Maurice Timothy Reidy are being made available for Executive Editors Sebastian Gomes researchers in a global database. Ashley McKinless Press Association via AP Images Kerry Weber Editor at Large James Martin, S.J. [email protected] Cover: iStock Production Editor Robert C. Collins, S.J. Senior Editors Kevin Clarke James T. Keane J.D. Long-García Sam Sawyer, S.J. Email Editorial Robert David Sullivan Creative Director Shawn Tripoli Graphic Designer Alison Hamilton Poetry Editor Joe Hoover, S.J. Vatican Correspondent Gerard O’Connell National Correspondent Michael J. O’Loughlin Associate Editor Ricardo da Silva, S.J. Associate Editor & Director of Audience Engagement and Analytics Zachary Davis Audio Producer Maggi Van Dorn [email protected] Video Producer & Director of Photography Deniz Demirer Assistant Producers Colleen Dulle, Kevin Jackson Reprints Assistant Editors Vivian Cabrera Joseph McAuley Contributing Writers Nichole M. Flores Cecilia González-Andrieu Rachel Lu Eileen Markey 1.800.267.6939 1.800.267.6939 Jim McDermott, S.J. Kaya Oakes Nathan Schneider Eve Tushnet Contributing Editors Ellen Boegel Patrick Gilger, S.J. Maryann Cusimano Love William McCormick, S.J. Paul McNelis, S.J. Regional Correspondents Dean Dettloff (Toronto) Anthony Egan, S.J. (Johannesburg) Jan-Albert Hootsen (Mexico City) Jim McDermott, S.J. (Los Angeles) THE ISSUE Melissa Vida (Brussels) Copies Subscriptions and Additional BOOKINGS Special Contributors Jake Martin, S.J., Sean Salai, S.J. Editor, The Jesuit Post Brian Strassburger, S.J. Moderator, Catholic Book Club Kevin Spinale, S.J. 30 O'Hare Fellows Molly Cahill Erika Rasmussen 212.581.4640 Modern friendship; a survey of Catholic Kevin Christopher Robles poetry; Michael Martin’s sacramental Executive V.P. and life; the mystery of John Banville Chief Operating Officer Traug Keller Senior V.P. for Finance and Operations Rosa M. 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MARY GORDON facebook.com/americamag New York, NY 10036 What kind of Catholic are you? twitter.com/americamag America Press Inc. d/b/a America Media ©2021 Advertising APRIL 15, 2021 VOL. 224 NO. 5 WHOLE NO 5261 Rare Finds: The Treasures Found in Books One of the advantages of belonging to a virtual book “made of twelve types of paper, ten varieties of ink (six in club rather than a real-life version is that it survives in a the printed matter and four in the handwritten notes), two pandemic. In fact, in some ways our Catholic Book Club adhesives, threading of both linen and silk, and goatskin has thrived in the past year: Many of us found books to leather.” Jefferson used his creation for his own personal be valuable sources of nourishment during the time of devotional reading during the last six years of his life. Covid-19, and many of us also sought out community Among Jefferson’s particular bugaboos were Jesus’ and companionship in virtual settings when in-person miracles, which he thought distracted from the reality of encounters became rare.