West is the professor of religion and director of Afro- American studies at Princeton whose short essay collection, Race Matters (p. 216), became a bestseller earlier this year. The essays in this longer collection mostly predate those in Race Matters (seven are from the early to mid-80's) and were written for a more academic audience. There's more philosophy than race in this odd assortment, which begins with a consideration of Matthew Arnold's seminal role in defining our secular culture, moves on to assess various philosophers (the American Josiah Royce, the Hungarian Gyîrgy Luk†cs), and ends with a dull overview of the ``African American Rebellion'' that began in the mid-1950's. West's own philosophical stance is clear: His generous humanist vision has been nourished by such various disciplines as Emersonian pragmatism (with its emphasis on ``the ethical significance of the future''), Marxism, and the prophetic Christian tradition that enjoins us ``to look at the world through the eyes of its victims.'' His message is clear, too: Although he feels that ``the quality of black intellectual exchange is at its worst since the Civil War'' and that the decline of American culture may be ``irreversible,'' he also sees the need to keep faith in the possibility of positive change. The challenge for intellectuals, black and white, is to move beyond ``contestation within the academy'' and to become ``critical organic catalysts'' in the wider community. Given this message, it's puzzling to find included here long essays on the American Marxist Fredric Jameson (whose works are ``confined to specialists...in the academy'') and the Critical Legal Studies movement (``an isolated...affair within the ivy halls of elite law schools''). West's voice is an important one, but this collection doesn't amplify it in a helpful way.
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1993
ISBN: 0-415-90486-2
Page Count: 308
Publisher: Routledge
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1993
A forceful, necessarily provocative call to action for the preservation and protection of American Jewish freedom.
Known for her often contentious perspectives, New York Times opinion writer Weiss battles societal Jewish intolerance through lucid prose and a linear playbook of remedies.
While she was vividly aware of anti-Semitism throughout her life, the reality of the problem hit home when an active shooter stormed a Pittsburgh synagogue where her family regularly met for morning services and where she became a bat mitzvah years earlier. The massacre that ensued there further spurred her outrage and passionate activism. She writes that European Jews face a three-pronged threat in contemporary society, where physical, moral, and political fears of mounting violence are putting their general safety in jeopardy. She believes that Americans live in an era when “the lunatic fringe has gone mainstream” and Jews have been forced to become “a people apart.” With palpable frustration, she adroitly assesses the origins of anti-Semitism and how its prevalence is increasing through more discreet portals such as internet self-radicalization. Furthermore, the erosion of civility and tolerance and the demonization of minorities continue via the “casual racism” of political figures like Donald Trump. Following densely political discourses on Zionism and radical Islam, the author offers a list of bullet-point solutions focused on using behavioral and personal action items—individual accountability, active involvement, building community, loving neighbors, etc.—to help stem the tide of anti-Semitism. Weiss sounds a clarion call to Jewish readers who share her growing angst as well as non-Jewish Americans who wish to arm themselves with the knowledge and intellectual tools to combat marginalization and defuse and disavow trends of dehumanizing behavior. “Call it out,” she writes. “Especially when it’s hard.” At the core of the text is the author’s concern for the health and safety of American citizens, and she encourages anyone “who loves freedom and seeks to protect it” to join with her in vigorous activism.
A forceful, necessarily provocative call to action for the preservation and protection of American Jewish freedom.Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-593-13605-8
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 22, 2019
A heartfelt if somewhat unsurprising view of old age by the former president. Carter (Living Faith, 1996, etc.) succinctly evaluates the evolution and current status of federal policies concerning the elderly (including a balanced appraisal of the difficulties facing the Social Security system). He also meditates, while drawing heavily on autobiographical anecdotes, on the possibilities for exploration and intellectual and spiritual growth in old age. There are few lightning bolts to dazzle in his prescriptions (cultivate family ties; pursue the restorative pleasures of hobbies and socially minded activities). Yet the warmth and frankness of Carter’s remarks prove disarming. Given its brevity, the work is more of a call to senior citizens to reconsider how best to live life than it is a guide to any of the details involved.
Pub Date: Oct. 26, 1998
ISBN: 0-345-42592-8
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1998
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