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Single Issues: Essays on the Crucial Social Questions
Single Essays on the Crucial Social Questions by Joseph Sobran (1983)
- GenresEssaysPoliticsNonfiction
189 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1983
3 people are currently reading
73 people want to read
About the author
Joseph Sobran
37 books21 followersAmerican journalist and writer.
In 1972, Sobran began working at National Review. He stayed 21 years.
From 1988 to 2007, Sobran wrote a column for the Roman Catholic newsweekly The Wanderer entitled Washington Watch.
Through much of his career, Sobran identified as a paleoconservative and Constitutionalist. In 2002, Sobran announced his philosophical and political shift to libertarianism.
In 1972, Sobran began working at National Review. He stayed 21 years.
From 1988 to 2007, Sobran wrote a column for the Roman Catholic newsweekly The Wanderer entitled Washington Watch.
Through much of his career, Sobran identified as a paleoconservative and Constitutionalist. In 2002, Sobran announced his philosophical and political shift to libertarianism.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 17, 2021
This was a trip down memory lane for me, in that the late Joseph Sobran, when living, was one of my favorite essayists. But even this collection of his essays predated my familiarity with his writings. They were penned for the Human Life Review between 1975-1982 and centered around the magazine's raison d'etre: opposition to abortion. Hence the title, which refers to the sobriquet of "single issue politics" so often attributed to the pro-life cause.
Sobran preferred the term "crucial-issue politics," because he rightly recognized how central the debate over this crucial issue was to American society and civil life. One might rightly call him prophetic because he saw so clearly where the trends were headed. Reading these essays 40+ years after initial publication makes this even more clear.
They're not dated, though. The issues addressed in these fifteen essays are as or more important today, because the buds represented in the early 80s have fully blossomed in 2021. And the flowers are ugly, discordant, and smell like dung.
Sobran preferred the term "crucial-issue politics," because he rightly recognized how central the debate over this crucial issue was to American society and civil life. One might rightly call him prophetic because he saw so clearly where the trends were headed. Reading these essays 40+ years after initial publication makes this even more clear.
They're not dated, though. The issues addressed in these fifteen essays are as or more important today, because the buds represented in the early 80s have fully blossomed in 2021. And the flowers are ugly, discordant, and smell like dung.
April 7, 2012
Sobran was quoted a few times in "Report from the Synod: John Paul II & the Battle for Vatican II" by Richard Cowden-Guido.
This collection of essays is excellent. Sobran's clarity of thought is refreshing.
This collection of essays is excellent. Sobran's clarity of thought is refreshing.
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December 7, 2009Recommended by James Schall in Another Sort of Learning, Chapter 15, as one of Fourteen Books on the Value and Defense of Human Life.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews