Bonnie Thurston

Notes on Genesis and Exodus

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“As a Cistercian, Merton’s life was shaped by the scriptural basis of the monastic offices. Patrick O’Connell’s honest, critical introduction and exacting editing of Merton’s notes for talks to his novices on Genesis and Exodus provide fresh insight into the monk’s pre-Vatican II thought and fill in a missing piece of the puzzle of his theological development. Merton readers and admirers owe O’Connell a debt of gratitude for his impressive editing of the massive body of Merton’s heretofore unpublished notes for monastic conferences.”

The House of Metaphor

Arts & Literature

“Pamela Cranston’s wonderful, accessible poems are a temple of metaphor. Her juxtapositions and never clichéd similes surprise and delight. Her penetrating insights engage the reader. Allusion to classical English poetry deepens the resonance of the work’s heart-truths. These are poems to revel in and ponder. To hurry through them would be like eating a box of fancy chocolates at one go. Don’t.”

The Shapes Are Real

Arts & Literature

“Words ‘can go only so far.’ Baumgaertner’s ekphrastic poetry and Liviu Mocan’s remarkable sculpture reach toward ‘the ladder’s top,’ ‘suggest what lies beyond / what lies ahead.’ Beautifully produced, the book’s poems and sculpture enhance appreciation of their shared vertical, heavenward thrust. Each adroitly interweaves images of creation, planting, and crucifixion. Each is ‘always about ascending.’ What ‘we cannot do . . . / ourselves’ this marriage of sculpture and poetry facilitates in a book for pondering, prayer, and praise.”