A review by shayneh
The Age of American Unreason by Susan Jacoby

3.0

This book was impressive in its scope and in its vitriol. Nonetheless, when in the conclusion the author just palms off the blame on those pesky attention-ruining devices taking over the world today, I confess myself underwhelmed: exactly how is fundamentalist religion's recent resurgence caused by my smartphone? The author is, again, impressive in her skill but comes across as a crotchety old timer by implying repeatedly that the world would be in better shape if only everyone read the ancient Greeks more. (Note that this may well be the case, but the author does a poor job of showing why that might be.)

A good challenging book, in that it made me confront several ideas that I don't subscribe to, but not one that substantially changed my worldview despite that.