October book selection: “A Canticle for Liebowitz” by Walter M. Miller, Jr.

Serious Topics

During World War II, author Walter M. Miller, Jr. enlisted in the US Army Air Forces as a radioman and tail gunner, flying more than fifty bombing missions over Italy. One of these missions was responsible for the destruction of the 6th-century Christian monastery at Monte Cassino, founded by St. Benedict. When Miller returned to Florida after the war, he abandoned atheism and converted to Catholicism two years later. He also started writing short stories which, within 10 years, had turned into “A Canticle for Liebowitz”. It is considered one of the greatest science-fiction books of all time and was also an inspiration for the game “Fallout”. In a ruined world slowly awakening after a long darkness, cloistered monks preserve the relics and writings of the blessed Saint Isaac Leibowitz. The story spans centuries of ignorance, violence and barbarism, viewing with satire a human race doomed to repeat its mistakes.