My review of Casey Schwartz’s thought-provoking memoir
Attention: A Love Story is
live at Church Life Journal. The review marks a bit of a departure for me in terms of
subject—Schwartz’s memoir is neither primarily literary nor religious. Yet, as
I explain in the review, I sensed in it fertile ground to explore something I’m
interested in: the connection between our social preoccupation with attention
in the age of the smartphone, and the Christian tradition of contemplative
prayer. Readers of this blog will know of my fascination with Simone Weil,
which Schwartz shares; though she isn’t religious herself, her engagement with
the French thinker opens her to situating attention beyond the self, an impulse
that I argue is fundamentally a religious one. Enjoy!
