Patrick Allitt’s “The American Christ” (November) was a concise, comprehensive survey of the American literary treatment of Christ as found in many great and not-so-great novels from America’s earliest days to the present. The books mentioned in the article would make enjoyable light reading for the summer, or at any time for that matter.

I thought Allitt did a better job writing his piece than Martin Scorsese did filming The Last Temptation of Christ . The American Heritage article was much more stimulating. However, perhaps one of the good things that came out of the controversial film is that a wider and more serious dialogue on Christ is taking place.