A Canticle for Leibovitz - Book Club

For July, we decided to look further back in history in an attempt to mix things up a bit. We landed on 1959's A Canticle for Leibovitz, by Walter M. Miller Jr. It won the Hugo for Best Novel in 1961, as well as the Locus Award for All-Time Best Novel in 1975. Forty years after this one, he wrote a second book in the same world/series.

Originally published as three separate stories in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Miller realized while writing the third that they were truly one story, and adapted them into a full novel. The idea for the book came from his participation of the bombing and destruction in WWII of what was then the oldest existing Christian church in the Western world.

The book does appear to be currently in print, or available as an ebook (though it is available as an audiobook in both digital and disc formats). I recommended trying to find it used (abebooks.com is great), or borrowing it from the library if you can't handle audio.

Where to find the book (as of 05/23/2025):
(If there are other local sources I should add, let me know)

Hard Copies:
Delaware County Libraries - 0 of 1 copies available (1 hold)
Free Library of Philadelphia - 2 of 8 copies available
Montgomery County Libraries - 3 of 4 copies available

eBooks:
DCL - 0 of 0 copies
FLP - 0 of 0 copies
MCL - 0 of 0 copies

Audiobooks:
DCL - 0 of 1 copies (4 holds)
FLP - 0 of 6 copies (15 holds)
MCL - 0 of 2 copies (2 holds)

Summary:

In a nightmarish ruined world slowly awakening to the light after sleeping in darkness, the infant rediscoveries of science are secretly nourished by cloistered monks dedicated to the study and preservation of the relics and writings of the blessed Saint Isaac Leibowitz. From here the story spans centuries of ignorance, violence, and barbarism, viewing through a sharp, satirical eye the relentless progression of a human race damned by its inherent humanness to recelebrate its grand foibles and repeat its grievous mistakes.

Published October 1, 1959
334 pages, 9h 16m