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Drawing on the beloved G.K. Chesterton and J.R.R. Tolkien, among a few others, ‘At Home with Two Dead Englishmen,’ will focus on the notion of ‘Home.’ Perhaps infrequently thought of, the idea and reality of ‘Home’ is of the utmost importance, being something so subtly desired yet so difficult to find in our modern age. Matt’s talk will be at the whim of Chesterton’s poetical prose and Tolkien’s hearty Hobbits as he explores how we think about home- guarantor of domestic liberty or shackle upon the ankle-, how fiction can illuminate for us the forgotten splendor of the home, and how home is something we all seek even though its location can seem so very elusive.

What: Matthew Chominski – “At Home with Two Dead Englishmen: Chesterton and Tolkien on Home” [event on facebook]
When: June 23, 2010 at 7:30 PM
Where: Knights of Columbus Banquet Hall, 110 West Market Street, West Chester, PA 19382 [map]
Free Parking: Second level or behind the Parking Garage at 220 West Market Street, West Chester, PA 19382 [map] or the bank parking lot on North Church Street.

Matthew Chominski is the Education Coordinator for Generation Life and the Editor of The Publican of Philadelphia, a Catholic quarterly publication attempting to be at the service of the good, true, and beautiful in a local manner. He has spoken to various audiences on varied topics including G.K. Chesterton. Matthew graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in Politics-Philosophy. He and his wife live in Chester County, PA.

Some of this edition’s contents:

Gratuitous Foundations: Benedict XVI’s Humanism of the Gift by James Matthew Wilson;

Looking Up by Bill Donaghy;

The Principle of Gratuitousness or What’s Love Got to do with It? by John Médaille;

Are You Rich? by Brian Lester;

A Place to Start by Andy Coval and Michael Higgins

Enjoy!

In a certain imitation of this wonderful blog, I thought I’d mention some of the best books I read over this past year. These are not necessarily published in 2009, but simply some of those I read during the year now past.

I’ll stick to five and invite you to mention your best reads in the comments section.

1. Shop Class as Soul Craft, by Matthew Crawford

An analysis of the value of work. True work, the type that engages the entire person, or at least engages that person to a great degree. In the case of the author he is a motorcycle mechanic who also happens to hold a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in political philosophy, rather impressive really.

Informative, challenging, and well-thought out. It also a nice combination of theoretical movements with history and personal stories.

2. Crunchy Cons, by Rod Dreher

A title I have wanted to read for a couple of years now, ever since it was published really. I finally got to it recently by way of it being lent to me by Publican contributor Brian Lester. Dreher lays out a conservative vision that one may not often encounter. It doesn’t so much lay out a system with certain proposed policies and such, but more so conveys a sensibility, providing a certain type of window to look out upon the world, a window not so concerned with finances but family.

Dreher certainly offers comfort to those of a conservative persuasion that don’t seem find a home in the mainstream of the Republican party, and also a challenge to those who do.

3. The Unmasking of Oscar Wilde, by Joseph Pearce

Pearce has contributed a small corpus of wonderful biographies of literary English and Irishmen. One of the more enjoyable and beneficial is this one about Oscar Wilde. In a way, Wilde was seemingly haunted by Catholicism, right up to and including the end of his catastrophic life, which happened to end in eucatastrophic fashion.

4. Old Thunder: A Life of Hilaire Belloc, by Joseph Pearce

Entirely worthwhile, another one of the wonderful aforementioned biographies by Pearce. I particularly enjoyed the relating of Belloc’s efforts to be elected to parliament; it includes this snippet:

…(H)e rose to address the packed audience as follows: ‘Gentlemen, I am a Catholic. As far as possible, I go to Mass every day. This [taking his beads out of his pocket] is a rosary. As far as possible, I kneel down and tell these beads every day. If you reject me on account of my religion, I shall thank God that He has spared me the indignity of being your representative.’ For a few seemingly endless moments there was a hush of utter astonishment – followed by a thunderclap of applause (Pearce, 104).

5. The Man Who was Thursday, by G.K. Chesterton

I feel any attempt of mine to comment on this work here would do more harm than good, so I recommend reading, or re-reading it on your own. The edition I happened to read was from this publishing outfit, Idylls Press.

What were your best reads?

Merry Christmas.

Here’s an excerpt:

Chominski lays out his vision for the magazine, saying it needs to be a conversation about truth, beauty, goodness and our common culture as it is lived in and around Philadelphia. So, localism is his sine qua non. I really like that; it’s a way of building real community among writers and residents living in a particular place. Why can’t there be a Publican of Kansas City, a Publican of Dallas, a Publican of Denver, a Publican of Portland … ?

Read the full blog post here

you wake in my heart,

However, when it comes to living out our eros, our God-given passion for all that is good, true, and beautiful, it seems many of us don’t even equate it with Christianity anymore. We feel that eros is less than holy, and are content with continence not consummation – so we divorce passion from purity and just tough it out, trying to stay clean, in a kind of legalistic contract with God that will keep us on the “Big Guy’s” good side. This is a sad existence to say the least; a life lived in quiet desperation.

Read the rest here

by Matthew Chominski

It seems that as this is the first printed edition of The Publican of Philadelphia an addressing of the purpose of the publication is in order. And not only its purpose but its history, short as it may be, its focus, as wide and unfocused as it may be, and its inspirations and sources, as varied as they may be.

To date, there have been five online editions of The Publican. And while an internet presence is certainly imperative, the printed page has certain almost indescribable qualities that cannot be matched, even if mimicked by the computer, Kindle and the like. So the jump off the elusive internet and onto paper has been made, which in its own small way contributes to one of the publication’s goals: promoting a more human scale of things.

Read the rest here