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A review by aasplund
The Age of American Unreason by Susan Jacoby
3.0
Once again, David Bowie has introduced me to something I would never have read otherwise - and this book certainly pushed me outside my comfort zone (though I'm not sure yet if it was in a good or bad way).
Overall, this book intrigued me. The idea that America is turning anti-intellectual is an interesting one and not something that I've given much thought to before. Also, a review of American intellect was so fascinating to me and I loved learning about different eras of American intellect (especially middlebrow culture - that's something that I'm excited to read more about). I also got a lot of new reading recommendations from this book (mostly authors and books that were briefly referenced in here, but that sounded like things I'd enjoy) and that was exciting.
In spite of all I appreciated about this book, there was a lot that made me uncomfortable. The author spent part of the introduction talking about the importance of being exposed to material that doesn't fall in line with your viewpoints - which is a view I agree with and appreciate. However, in spite of expressing that viewpoint, it felt like the author was trying to make it as difficult as possible to get through this book if you don't already agree with her. This book is blatantly (and sometimes cruelly) anti-religion and anti-conservative and Jacoby also takes issue with lots of other random things - i.e. hip hop and rap (for being violent and misogynistic), "chick lit" (for being too vapid and shallow) and ebooks (which are apparently not taking over the world or encouraging more reading like they were supposed to). In many ways, this book expanded my understanding of America, but it bothered me when Jacoby was being short-sighted or closed-minded. It might help me to remember that this book was published in 2008 and that the world has changed since then.
Overall, this was a fascinating book that helped me understand the development of America better. Not recommended for conservative or religious readers who are easily offended.
Overall, this book intrigued me. The idea that America is turning anti-intellectual is an interesting one and not something that I've given much thought to before. Also, a review of American intellect was so fascinating to me and I loved learning about different eras of American intellect (especially middlebrow culture - that's something that I'm excited to read more about). I also got a lot of new reading recommendations from this book (mostly authors and books that were briefly referenced in here, but that sounded like things I'd enjoy) and that was exciting.
In spite of all I appreciated about this book, there was a lot that made me uncomfortable. The author spent part of the introduction talking about the importance of being exposed to material that doesn't fall in line with your viewpoints - which is a view I agree with and appreciate. However, in spite of expressing that viewpoint, it felt like the author was trying to make it as difficult as possible to get through this book if you don't already agree with her. This book is blatantly (and sometimes cruelly) anti-religion and anti-conservative and Jacoby also takes issue with lots of other random things - i.e. hip hop and rap (for being violent and misogynistic), "chick lit" (for being too vapid and shallow) and ebooks (which are apparently not taking over the world or encouraging more reading like they were supposed to). In many ways, this book expanded my understanding of America, but it bothered me when Jacoby was being short-sighted or closed-minded. It might help me to remember that this book was published in 2008 and that the world has changed since then.
Overall, this was a fascinating book that helped me understand the development of America better. Not recommended for conservative or religious readers who are easily offended.