The author of the Pulitzer Prize winner Gilead and the National Book Critics Circle Award winner Lila, Marilynne Robinson has plumbed the human spirit in her uplifting novels. In this collection of essays, she focuses on our modern political climate and the mysteries of faith, whether investigating how the work of great thinkers like Emerson and Tocqueville inform America's political consciousness, or discussing the way that beauty informs and guides daily life. Robinson calls on us to continue the tradition of those great thinkers and to remake American political and cultural life with a deep sense of obligation and generosity.

"Robinson's gorgeous, demanding, and enlightening essays, propelled by her intricate vision of unity, radiantly recharge both mind and soul."—Booklist