From Joseph Bottum at First Things. He praises Powers very highly but then seems to say that he is justly, or at least understandably, neglected.

But Powers had narrowed his vision down to a point where it could not survive the passing of its moment.... He really was the finest American Catholic writer of the twentieth century. And that century is over.

I don't get this. It seems to be more than an acknowledgment that the world of which Powers writes has become unfamiliar. I admit I don't know Powers' work all that well--Morte D'Urban and some of the short stories--but I don't see any reason why any literate Catholic (or reasonably knowledgeable and sympathetic non-Catholic) should have a problem with Powers, any more than with, say, Flannery O'Connor. For my part I don't think I've been able, since I read it, to take stock of my own spiritual condition without thinking of Powers' short story "The Prince of Darkness."