This weekend on the Dish, the fervor of the presidential election receded as books, religion, and culture seized our attention. The main political news we covered was the unfolding story of Romney's Benghazi boomerang here and here.

In literary coverage, Keith Gessen profiled the hate-based friendship of Kingsley Amis and Philip Larkin, Jeffrey Williams charted the rise of the academic novel in America fiction, Brad Leithauser reflected on the burden of unread books, Danny Heitman complicated our understanding of Thoreau, Geraldine Brooks explained her sophisticated method for shelving her books, Martha Nussbaum celebrated fiction's moral power, Daniel Mendelsohn described why he's a critic who takes the long view, and Mark Signorelli captured the power of poetry. Read Saturday's poem here and Sunday's here.

In matters of faith and doubt, Andre Dubus meditated on the meaning of sacraments, Michael Quinn reviewed the history of LDS meddling in American politics, a pastor gave surprising testimony about marriage equality, Rachel Held Evans embraced the fraught enterprise of interpreting the Bible, and Roger McCann explored why the problem of God's existence isn't merely a matter of logic. Marc Barnes detailed Andy Warhol's saintly side, Christian Wiman found God in the midst suffering, a Mormon offered the reasons she's voting for Obama, mainline Protestant churches were accused of nefarious anti-Zionism, and Jerry DeNuccio unpacked the religious and literary history of anti-materialism.

In assorted coverage, a new study muddled the classic marshmallow test, Peter Jager theorized why everything is bigger in Laos, Michael Adams extoled the health benefits of slang, Michael Gonzales noted crack's arrival in his neighborhood, Kurt Hollander delved into the history of Aztec alcohol, and Jacob Silverman reminded us just how dangerous a drug alcohol is. We also analyzed the origins of Internet dating and jokingly pondered whether Obama was a socialist or a failture, while Stephen Burt explicated his difficulties dressing like a woman, Meehan Crist scrutinized the latest merging of psychonalysis and neuroscience, William Deresiewicz appreciated America's infrastructure inheritance, and Ross Andersen showed how climate changing is threatening the world's oldest trees.

We asked Christopher Ryan anything here and Reihan Salam here. Tweet of the day here and cool ad watch here. MHBs here and here, FOTDs here and here, VFYW here and here, and the latest window contest here.

– M.S.

(Photo by Flickr user mRio)