Tag: Literature

Topics

Books

Auden: The Quality of Doubt

– “Auden: The Quality of Doubt” (as William Ferry), Enquiry, November 1942. (A review of The Double Man by W. H. Auden.)
Excerpt: Auden is certainly one of those “whose works are in better taste than their lives.” His early verse, ideologically viewed, was brashly positive, didactic, clever,… More

A Christian Experiment

– “A Christian Experiment” (as William Ferry), Enquiry, January 1943. (A review of The Seed Beneath the Snow by Ignazio Silone.)
Excerpt: To Thomas Mann’s dictum:  “In our time the destiny of man presents its meaning in political terms,” we may add the observation, drawn from current intellectual… More

The Moral Critic

– “The Moral Critic,” Enquiry, April 1944. (A review of E. M. Forster by Lionel Trilling.)
Excerpt: The liberal flatters himself upon his intentions, problems, “and prefers not to know that the good will generates its own that the love pf humanity has its own vices and the… More

Adam and I

– "Adam and I," Commentary, November 1946.
Excerpt: I was quite unprepared for Adam, for his peculiar insensibility, his directness, his momentous inertia. He didn’t at all fit the picture that I had imagined—or that had been… More

American Humanist

– "American Humanist," Commentary, November 1950. (A review of Classics and Commercials and The Little Blue Light by Edmund Wilson.)
Excerpt: “He has a genuine classical taste, he is not often influenced by fads, and he reads, and writes about what he reads, because he honestly enjoys doing so. Literature is for him… More

American Ghosts

– “American Ghosts,” Encounter, July 1954.  (A review of The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow and Brothers to Dragons by R. D. Warner.)

The Rock of Eden

– “The Rock of Eden,” Encounter, June 1956.  (A review of The Dream of Success, by Kenneth S. Lynn, The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit, by Sloan Wilson, and The Exurbanites, by A. C. Spectorsky.)

Europe’s Underground

– “Europe's Underground,” Encounter, September 1956. (A review of Passion and Society by Denis de Rougemont.)

Strange Gods on Capitol Hill

– “Strange Gods on Capitol Hill,” Reporter, November 12, 1959. (A review of Advise and Consent by Allen Drury.)

D-a-v-y Da-vy Crockett

– "D-a-v-y Da-vy Crockett," Commentary, February 1960. (A review of Mark Twain and Southwestern Humor by Kenneth S. Lynn.)
Excerpt: There is nothing quite like American humorous writing in the literature of other nations. Nowhere else is humor so central to the literary tradition, so intimately revealing of the… More

A Traitor to His Class?

– "A Traitor to His Class?," Kenyon Review, Summer 1960. (A review of Love and Death in the American Novel by Leslie A. Fielder.)

High, Low, and Modern

– “High, Low, and Modern,” Encounter, August 1960.
Excerpt: It is often said that “mass culture” is the price we pay for democracy. That all depends, of course, on what we mean by democracy. If we mean by democracy nothing… More

On the Democratic Idea in America

– New York: Harper, 1972.
1. Urban Civilization and its Discontents 2. The Shaking of the Foundations 3. Pornography, Obscenity, and the Case for Censorship 4. American Historians and the Democratic Idea 5. American… More

Two Cheers for Capitalism

– New York: Basic Books, March 1978.
PART ONE: The Enemy of Being is Having 1. Corporate Capitalism in America 2. Business and the “New Class” 3. Frustrations of Affluence 4. Ideology and Food 5. The… More

Books for Christmas

– “Books for Christmas” (A symposium), American Spectator, December 1990.
Excerpt: Here are three recommendations. They are all fiction, all twentieth century, are available in paperback, but are not contemporary. I keep meeting people who do not know these… More

Countercultures

– "Countercultures," Commentary, December 1994.
Excerpt: Countercultures are dangerous phenomena even as they are inevitable. Their destructive power always far exceeds their constructive power. The delicate task that faces our… More

A Man without Footnotes

– Nathan Glazer, "A Man without Footnotes," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Irving Kristol in London

– Sir Peregrine Worsthorne, "Irving Kristol in London," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Following Irving

– Norman Podhoretz, "Following Irving," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea

– New York: Free Press, 1995.
SECTION I 1. An Autobiographical Memoir   SECTION II: RACE, SEX, AND FAMILY 2. Welfare: The Best of Intentions, the Worst of Results 3. The Tragedy of “Multiculturalism” 4.… More

An Autobiographical Memoir

– “An Autobiographical Memoir” from Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea, (New York, NY: The Free Press, 1995).
Excerpt: Is there such a thing as a “neo” gene? I ask that question because, looking back over a lifetime of my opinions, I am struck by the fact that they all quality as “neo.” I… More

Arguing the World

– "Arguing the World" (A documentary), written and directed by Joseph Dorman, January 7, 1998.

Arguing the World

– Arguing the World: The New York Intellectuals in Their Own Words, ed. Joseph Dorman (New York: Free Press, 2000). (Transcript of TV interviews from 1998.)

Farewell to the Godfather

– Christopher Hitchens, "Farewell to the Godfather," Slate, September 20, 2009.
Excerpt: The neoconservative faction, or should we say movement, is generally secular and often associated with the name of Leo Strauss. Kristol was one of those who never minded saying… More

Irving Kristol

– "Irving Kristol," The Economist, September 24, 2009.
Excerpt: Conservatism, Kristol-style, acquired a “neo”. He was always, he mused, a neo-something: neoMarxist, neoliberal, neo-Orthodox (because he believed, though he wasn’t sure… More

Beyond Ideology

– James Q. Wilson, "Beyond Ideology," Wall Street Journal, January 21, 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: The essays in “The Neoconservative Persuasion”—all but one never before brought together in a book—are a remarkable introduction to one of the few people who… More

Irving Kristol’s Brute Reason

– Paul Berman, "Irving Kristol's Brute Reason," New York Times Book Review, January 30, 2011.
Excerpt: And, in this new spirit, he plunged into his magnum opus, which, instead of a book, was the constructing of something called “neoconservatism.” This was intended to be a new… More

Irving Kristol’s Neoconservative Persuasion

– Gertrude Himmelfarb, "Irving Kristol's Neoconservative Persuasion," Commentary, February 2011.
Excerpt: Much has been made of the consistency of tone in his writings—bold and speculative but never dogmatic or academic, always personal, witty, ironic. That tone is not only a matter… More

The Flexible Temperament

– James Piereson, "The Flexible Temperament," The New Criterion, March 2010. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: Kristol’s intellectual contribution was to bring these fundamental ideas into contemporary debates about politics and public policy through his writings in outlets like the Wall… More

Essays

Auden: The Quality of Doubt

– “Auden: The Quality of Doubt” (as William Ferry), Enquiry, November 1942. (A review of The Double Man by W. H. Auden.)
Excerpt: Auden is certainly one of those “whose works are in better taste than their lives.” His early verse, ideologically viewed, was brashly positive, didactic, clever,… More

A Christian Experiment

– “A Christian Experiment” (as William Ferry), Enquiry, January 1943. (A review of The Seed Beneath the Snow by Ignazio Silone.)
Excerpt: To Thomas Mann’s dictum:  “In our time the destiny of man presents its meaning in political terms,” we may add the observation, drawn from current intellectual… More

The Moral Critic

– “The Moral Critic,” Enquiry, April 1944. (A review of E. M. Forster by Lionel Trilling.)
Excerpt: The liberal flatters himself upon his intentions, problems, “and prefers not to know that the good will generates its own that the love pf humanity has its own vices and the… More

Adam and I

– "Adam and I," Commentary, November 1946.
Excerpt: I was quite unprepared for Adam, for his peculiar insensibility, his directness, his momentous inertia. He didn’t at all fit the picture that I had imagined—or that had been… More

American Humanist

– "American Humanist," Commentary, November 1950. (A review of Classics and Commercials and The Little Blue Light by Edmund Wilson.)
Excerpt: “He has a genuine classical taste, he is not often influenced by fads, and he reads, and writes about what he reads, because he honestly enjoys doing so. Literature is for him… More

American Ghosts

– “American Ghosts,” Encounter, July 1954.  (A review of The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow and Brothers to Dragons by R. D. Warner.)

The Rock of Eden

– “The Rock of Eden,” Encounter, June 1956.  (A review of The Dream of Success, by Kenneth S. Lynn, The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit, by Sloan Wilson, and The Exurbanites, by A. C. Spectorsky.)

Europe’s Underground

– “Europe's Underground,” Encounter, September 1956. (A review of Passion and Society by Denis de Rougemont.)

Strange Gods on Capitol Hill

– “Strange Gods on Capitol Hill,” Reporter, November 12, 1959. (A review of Advise and Consent by Allen Drury.)

D-a-v-y Da-vy Crockett

– "D-a-v-y Da-vy Crockett," Commentary, February 1960. (A review of Mark Twain and Southwestern Humor by Kenneth S. Lynn.)
Excerpt: There is nothing quite like American humorous writing in the literature of other nations. Nowhere else is humor so central to the literary tradition, so intimately revealing of the… More

A Traitor to His Class?

– "A Traitor to His Class?," Kenyon Review, Summer 1960. (A review of Love and Death in the American Novel by Leslie A. Fielder.)

High, Low, and Modern

– “High, Low, and Modern,” Encounter, August 1960.
Excerpt: It is often said that “mass culture” is the price we pay for democracy. That all depends, of course, on what we mean by democracy. If we mean by democracy nothing… More

On the Democratic Idea in America

– New York: Harper, 1972.
1. Urban Civilization and its Discontents 2. The Shaking of the Foundations 3. Pornography, Obscenity, and the Case for Censorship 4. American Historians and the Democratic Idea 5. American… More

Two Cheers for Capitalism

– New York: Basic Books, March 1978.
PART ONE: The Enemy of Being is Having 1. Corporate Capitalism in America 2. Business and the “New Class” 3. Frustrations of Affluence 4. Ideology and Food 5. The… More

Books for Christmas

– “Books for Christmas” (A symposium), American Spectator, December 1990.
Excerpt: Here are three recommendations. They are all fiction, all twentieth century, are available in paperback, but are not contemporary. I keep meeting people who do not know these… More

Countercultures

– "Countercultures," Commentary, December 1994.
Excerpt: Countercultures are dangerous phenomena even as they are inevitable. Their destructive power always far exceeds their constructive power. The delicate task that faces our… More

A Man without Footnotes

– Nathan Glazer, "A Man without Footnotes," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Irving Kristol in London

– Sir Peregrine Worsthorne, "Irving Kristol in London," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Following Irving

– Norman Podhoretz, "Following Irving," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea

– New York: Free Press, 1995.
SECTION I 1. An Autobiographical Memoir   SECTION II: RACE, SEX, AND FAMILY 2. Welfare: The Best of Intentions, the Worst of Results 3. The Tragedy of “Multiculturalism” 4.… More

An Autobiographical Memoir

– “An Autobiographical Memoir” from Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea, (New York, NY: The Free Press, 1995).
Excerpt: Is there such a thing as a “neo” gene? I ask that question because, looking back over a lifetime of my opinions, I am struck by the fact that they all quality as “neo.” I… More

Arguing the World

– "Arguing the World" (A documentary), written and directed by Joseph Dorman, January 7, 1998.

Arguing the World

– Arguing the World: The New York Intellectuals in Their Own Words, ed. Joseph Dorman (New York: Free Press, 2000). (Transcript of TV interviews from 1998.)

Farewell to the Godfather

– Christopher Hitchens, "Farewell to the Godfather," Slate, September 20, 2009.
Excerpt: The neoconservative faction, or should we say movement, is generally secular and often associated with the name of Leo Strauss. Kristol was one of those who never minded saying… More

Irving Kristol

– "Irving Kristol," The Economist, September 24, 2009.
Excerpt: Conservatism, Kristol-style, acquired a “neo”. He was always, he mused, a neo-something: neoMarxist, neoliberal, neo-Orthodox (because he believed, though he wasn’t sure… More

Beyond Ideology

– James Q. Wilson, "Beyond Ideology," Wall Street Journal, January 21, 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: The essays in “The Neoconservative Persuasion”—all but one never before brought together in a book—are a remarkable introduction to one of the few people who… More

Irving Kristol’s Brute Reason

– Paul Berman, "Irving Kristol's Brute Reason," New York Times Book Review, January 30, 2011.
Excerpt: And, in this new spirit, he plunged into his magnum opus, which, instead of a book, was the constructing of something called “neoconservatism.” This was intended to be a new… More

Irving Kristol’s Neoconservative Persuasion

– Gertrude Himmelfarb, "Irving Kristol's Neoconservative Persuasion," Commentary, February 2011.
Excerpt: Much has been made of the consistency of tone in his writings—bold and speculative but never dogmatic or academic, always personal, witty, ironic. That tone is not only a matter… More

The Flexible Temperament

– James Piereson, "The Flexible Temperament," The New Criterion, March 2010. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: Kristol’s intellectual contribution was to bring these fundamental ideas into contemporary debates about politics and public policy through his writings in outlets like the Wall… More

Commentary

Auden: The Quality of Doubt

– “Auden: The Quality of Doubt” (as William Ferry), Enquiry, November 1942. (A review of The Double Man by W. H. Auden.)
Excerpt: Auden is certainly one of those “whose works are in better taste than their lives.” His early verse, ideologically viewed, was brashly positive, didactic, clever,… More

A Christian Experiment

– “A Christian Experiment” (as William Ferry), Enquiry, January 1943. (A review of The Seed Beneath the Snow by Ignazio Silone.)
Excerpt: To Thomas Mann’s dictum:  “In our time the destiny of man presents its meaning in political terms,” we may add the observation, drawn from current intellectual… More

The Moral Critic

– “The Moral Critic,” Enquiry, April 1944. (A review of E. M. Forster by Lionel Trilling.)
Excerpt: The liberal flatters himself upon his intentions, problems, “and prefers not to know that the good will generates its own that the love pf humanity has its own vices and the… More

Adam and I

– "Adam and I," Commentary, November 1946.
Excerpt: I was quite unprepared for Adam, for his peculiar insensibility, his directness, his momentous inertia. He didn’t at all fit the picture that I had imagined—or that had been… More

American Humanist

– "American Humanist," Commentary, November 1950. (A review of Classics and Commercials and The Little Blue Light by Edmund Wilson.)
Excerpt: “He has a genuine classical taste, he is not often influenced by fads, and he reads, and writes about what he reads, because he honestly enjoys doing so. Literature is for him… More

American Ghosts

– “American Ghosts,” Encounter, July 1954.  (A review of The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow and Brothers to Dragons by R. D. Warner.)

The Rock of Eden

– “The Rock of Eden,” Encounter, June 1956.  (A review of The Dream of Success, by Kenneth S. Lynn, The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit, by Sloan Wilson, and The Exurbanites, by A. C. Spectorsky.)

Europe’s Underground

– “Europe's Underground,” Encounter, September 1956. (A review of Passion and Society by Denis de Rougemont.)

Strange Gods on Capitol Hill

– “Strange Gods on Capitol Hill,” Reporter, November 12, 1959. (A review of Advise and Consent by Allen Drury.)

D-a-v-y Da-vy Crockett

– "D-a-v-y Da-vy Crockett," Commentary, February 1960. (A review of Mark Twain and Southwestern Humor by Kenneth S. Lynn.)
Excerpt: There is nothing quite like American humorous writing in the literature of other nations. Nowhere else is humor so central to the literary tradition, so intimately revealing of the… More

A Traitor to His Class?

– "A Traitor to His Class?," Kenyon Review, Summer 1960. (A review of Love and Death in the American Novel by Leslie A. Fielder.)

High, Low, and Modern

– “High, Low, and Modern,” Encounter, August 1960.
Excerpt: It is often said that “mass culture” is the price we pay for democracy. That all depends, of course, on what we mean by democracy. If we mean by democracy nothing… More

On the Democratic Idea in America

– New York: Harper, 1972.
1. Urban Civilization and its Discontents 2. The Shaking of the Foundations 3. Pornography, Obscenity, and the Case for Censorship 4. American Historians and the Democratic Idea 5. American… More

Two Cheers for Capitalism

– New York: Basic Books, March 1978.
PART ONE: The Enemy of Being is Having 1. Corporate Capitalism in America 2. Business and the “New Class” 3. Frustrations of Affluence 4. Ideology and Food 5. The… More

Books for Christmas

– “Books for Christmas” (A symposium), American Spectator, December 1990.
Excerpt: Here are three recommendations. They are all fiction, all twentieth century, are available in paperback, but are not contemporary. I keep meeting people who do not know these… More

Countercultures

– "Countercultures," Commentary, December 1994.
Excerpt: Countercultures are dangerous phenomena even as they are inevitable. Their destructive power always far exceeds their constructive power. The delicate task that faces our… More

A Man without Footnotes

– Nathan Glazer, "A Man without Footnotes," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Irving Kristol in London

– Sir Peregrine Worsthorne, "Irving Kristol in London," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Following Irving

– Norman Podhoretz, "Following Irving," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea

– New York: Free Press, 1995.
SECTION I 1. An Autobiographical Memoir   SECTION II: RACE, SEX, AND FAMILY 2. Welfare: The Best of Intentions, the Worst of Results 3. The Tragedy of “Multiculturalism” 4.… More

An Autobiographical Memoir

– “An Autobiographical Memoir” from Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea, (New York, NY: The Free Press, 1995).
Excerpt: Is there such a thing as a “neo” gene? I ask that question because, looking back over a lifetime of my opinions, I am struck by the fact that they all quality as “neo.” I… More

Arguing the World

– "Arguing the World" (A documentary), written and directed by Joseph Dorman, January 7, 1998.

Arguing the World

– Arguing the World: The New York Intellectuals in Their Own Words, ed. Joseph Dorman (New York: Free Press, 2000). (Transcript of TV interviews from 1998.)

Farewell to the Godfather

– Christopher Hitchens, "Farewell to the Godfather," Slate, September 20, 2009.
Excerpt: The neoconservative faction, or should we say movement, is generally secular and often associated with the name of Leo Strauss. Kristol was one of those who never minded saying… More

Irving Kristol

– "Irving Kristol," The Economist, September 24, 2009.
Excerpt: Conservatism, Kristol-style, acquired a “neo”. He was always, he mused, a neo-something: neoMarxist, neoliberal, neo-Orthodox (because he believed, though he wasn’t sure… More

Beyond Ideology

– James Q. Wilson, "Beyond Ideology," Wall Street Journal, January 21, 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: The essays in “The Neoconservative Persuasion”—all but one never before brought together in a book—are a remarkable introduction to one of the few people who… More

Irving Kristol’s Brute Reason

– Paul Berman, "Irving Kristol's Brute Reason," New York Times Book Review, January 30, 2011.
Excerpt: And, in this new spirit, he plunged into his magnum opus, which, instead of a book, was the constructing of something called “neoconservatism.” This was intended to be a new… More

Irving Kristol’s Neoconservative Persuasion

– Gertrude Himmelfarb, "Irving Kristol's Neoconservative Persuasion," Commentary, February 2011.
Excerpt: Much has been made of the consistency of tone in his writings—bold and speculative but never dogmatic or academic, always personal, witty, ironic. That tone is not only a matter… More

The Flexible Temperament

– James Piereson, "The Flexible Temperament," The New Criterion, March 2010. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: Kristol’s intellectual contribution was to bring these fundamental ideas into contemporary debates about politics and public policy through his writings in outlets like the Wall… More

Multimedia

Auden: The Quality of Doubt

– “Auden: The Quality of Doubt” (as William Ferry), Enquiry, November 1942. (A review of The Double Man by W. H. Auden.)
Excerpt: Auden is certainly one of those “whose works are in better taste than their lives.” His early verse, ideologically viewed, was brashly positive, didactic, clever,… More

A Christian Experiment

– “A Christian Experiment” (as William Ferry), Enquiry, January 1943. (A review of The Seed Beneath the Snow by Ignazio Silone.)
Excerpt: To Thomas Mann’s dictum:  “In our time the destiny of man presents its meaning in political terms,” we may add the observation, drawn from current intellectual… More

The Moral Critic

– “The Moral Critic,” Enquiry, April 1944. (A review of E. M. Forster by Lionel Trilling.)
Excerpt: The liberal flatters himself upon his intentions, problems, “and prefers not to know that the good will generates its own that the love pf humanity has its own vices and the… More

Adam and I

– "Adam and I," Commentary, November 1946.
Excerpt: I was quite unprepared for Adam, for his peculiar insensibility, his directness, his momentous inertia. He didn’t at all fit the picture that I had imagined—or that had been… More

American Humanist

– "American Humanist," Commentary, November 1950. (A review of Classics and Commercials and The Little Blue Light by Edmund Wilson.)
Excerpt: “He has a genuine classical taste, he is not often influenced by fads, and he reads, and writes about what he reads, because he honestly enjoys doing so. Literature is for him… More

American Ghosts

– “American Ghosts,” Encounter, July 1954.  (A review of The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow and Brothers to Dragons by R. D. Warner.)

The Rock of Eden

– “The Rock of Eden,” Encounter, June 1956.  (A review of The Dream of Success, by Kenneth S. Lynn, The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit, by Sloan Wilson, and The Exurbanites, by A. C. Spectorsky.)

Europe’s Underground

– “Europe's Underground,” Encounter, September 1956. (A review of Passion and Society by Denis de Rougemont.)

Strange Gods on Capitol Hill

– “Strange Gods on Capitol Hill,” Reporter, November 12, 1959. (A review of Advise and Consent by Allen Drury.)

D-a-v-y Da-vy Crockett

– "D-a-v-y Da-vy Crockett," Commentary, February 1960. (A review of Mark Twain and Southwestern Humor by Kenneth S. Lynn.)
Excerpt: There is nothing quite like American humorous writing in the literature of other nations. Nowhere else is humor so central to the literary tradition, so intimately revealing of the… More

A Traitor to His Class?

– "A Traitor to His Class?," Kenyon Review, Summer 1960. (A review of Love and Death in the American Novel by Leslie A. Fielder.)

High, Low, and Modern

– “High, Low, and Modern,” Encounter, August 1960.
Excerpt: It is often said that “mass culture” is the price we pay for democracy. That all depends, of course, on what we mean by democracy. If we mean by democracy nothing… More

On the Democratic Idea in America

– New York: Harper, 1972.
1. Urban Civilization and its Discontents 2. The Shaking of the Foundations 3. Pornography, Obscenity, and the Case for Censorship 4. American Historians and the Democratic Idea 5. American… More

Two Cheers for Capitalism

– New York: Basic Books, March 1978.
PART ONE: The Enemy of Being is Having 1. Corporate Capitalism in America 2. Business and the “New Class” 3. Frustrations of Affluence 4. Ideology and Food 5. The… More

Books for Christmas

– “Books for Christmas” (A symposium), American Spectator, December 1990.
Excerpt: Here are three recommendations. They are all fiction, all twentieth century, are available in paperback, but are not contemporary. I keep meeting people who do not know these… More

Countercultures

– "Countercultures," Commentary, December 1994.
Excerpt: Countercultures are dangerous phenomena even as they are inevitable. Their destructive power always far exceeds their constructive power. The delicate task that faces our… More

A Man without Footnotes

– Nathan Glazer, "A Man without Footnotes," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Irving Kristol in London

– Sir Peregrine Worsthorne, "Irving Kristol in London," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Following Irving

– Norman Podhoretz, "Following Irving," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea

– New York: Free Press, 1995.
SECTION I 1. An Autobiographical Memoir   SECTION II: RACE, SEX, AND FAMILY 2. Welfare: The Best of Intentions, the Worst of Results 3. The Tragedy of “Multiculturalism” 4.… More

An Autobiographical Memoir

– “An Autobiographical Memoir” from Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea, (New York, NY: The Free Press, 1995).
Excerpt: Is there such a thing as a “neo” gene? I ask that question because, looking back over a lifetime of my opinions, I am struck by the fact that they all quality as “neo.” I… More

Arguing the World

– "Arguing the World" (A documentary), written and directed by Joseph Dorman, January 7, 1998.

Arguing the World

– Arguing the World: The New York Intellectuals in Their Own Words, ed. Joseph Dorman (New York: Free Press, 2000). (Transcript of TV interviews from 1998.)

Farewell to the Godfather

– Christopher Hitchens, "Farewell to the Godfather," Slate, September 20, 2009.
Excerpt: The neoconservative faction, or should we say movement, is generally secular and often associated with the name of Leo Strauss. Kristol was one of those who never minded saying… More

Irving Kristol

– "Irving Kristol," The Economist, September 24, 2009.
Excerpt: Conservatism, Kristol-style, acquired a “neo”. He was always, he mused, a neo-something: neoMarxist, neoliberal, neo-Orthodox (because he believed, though he wasn’t sure… More

Beyond Ideology

– James Q. Wilson, "Beyond Ideology," Wall Street Journal, January 21, 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: The essays in “The Neoconservative Persuasion”—all but one never before brought together in a book—are a remarkable introduction to one of the few people who… More

Irving Kristol’s Brute Reason

– Paul Berman, "Irving Kristol's Brute Reason," New York Times Book Review, January 30, 2011.
Excerpt: And, in this new spirit, he plunged into his magnum opus, which, instead of a book, was the constructing of something called “neoconservatism.” This was intended to be a new… More

Irving Kristol’s Neoconservative Persuasion

– Gertrude Himmelfarb, "Irving Kristol's Neoconservative Persuasion," Commentary, February 2011.
Excerpt: Much has been made of the consistency of tone in his writings—bold and speculative but never dogmatic or academic, always personal, witty, ironic. That tone is not only a matter… More

The Flexible Temperament

– James Piereson, "The Flexible Temperament," The New Criterion, March 2010. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: Kristol’s intellectual contribution was to bring these fundamental ideas into contemporary debates about politics and public policy through his writings in outlets like the Wall… More

Teaching

Auden: The Quality of Doubt

– “Auden: The Quality of Doubt” (as William Ferry), Enquiry, November 1942. (A review of The Double Man by W. H. Auden.)
Excerpt: Auden is certainly one of those “whose works are in better taste than their lives.” His early verse, ideologically viewed, was brashly positive, didactic, clever,… More

A Christian Experiment

– “A Christian Experiment” (as William Ferry), Enquiry, January 1943. (A review of The Seed Beneath the Snow by Ignazio Silone.)
Excerpt: To Thomas Mann’s dictum:  “In our time the destiny of man presents its meaning in political terms,” we may add the observation, drawn from current intellectual… More

The Moral Critic

– “The Moral Critic,” Enquiry, April 1944. (A review of E. M. Forster by Lionel Trilling.)
Excerpt: The liberal flatters himself upon his intentions, problems, “and prefers not to know that the good will generates its own that the love pf humanity has its own vices and the… More

Adam and I

– "Adam and I," Commentary, November 1946.
Excerpt: I was quite unprepared for Adam, for his peculiar insensibility, his directness, his momentous inertia. He didn’t at all fit the picture that I had imagined—or that had been… More

American Humanist

– "American Humanist," Commentary, November 1950. (A review of Classics and Commercials and The Little Blue Light by Edmund Wilson.)
Excerpt: “He has a genuine classical taste, he is not often influenced by fads, and he reads, and writes about what he reads, because he honestly enjoys doing so. Literature is for him… More

American Ghosts

– “American Ghosts,” Encounter, July 1954.  (A review of The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow and Brothers to Dragons by R. D. Warner.)

The Rock of Eden

– “The Rock of Eden,” Encounter, June 1956.  (A review of The Dream of Success, by Kenneth S. Lynn, The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit, by Sloan Wilson, and The Exurbanites, by A. C. Spectorsky.)

Europe’s Underground

– “Europe's Underground,” Encounter, September 1956. (A review of Passion and Society by Denis de Rougemont.)

Strange Gods on Capitol Hill

– “Strange Gods on Capitol Hill,” Reporter, November 12, 1959. (A review of Advise and Consent by Allen Drury.)

D-a-v-y Da-vy Crockett

– "D-a-v-y Da-vy Crockett," Commentary, February 1960. (A review of Mark Twain and Southwestern Humor by Kenneth S. Lynn.)
Excerpt: There is nothing quite like American humorous writing in the literature of other nations. Nowhere else is humor so central to the literary tradition, so intimately revealing of the… More

A Traitor to His Class?

– "A Traitor to His Class?," Kenyon Review, Summer 1960. (A review of Love and Death in the American Novel by Leslie A. Fielder.)

High, Low, and Modern

– “High, Low, and Modern,” Encounter, August 1960.
Excerpt: It is often said that “mass culture” is the price we pay for democracy. That all depends, of course, on what we mean by democracy. If we mean by democracy nothing… More

On the Democratic Idea in America

– New York: Harper, 1972.
1. Urban Civilization and its Discontents 2. The Shaking of the Foundations 3. Pornography, Obscenity, and the Case for Censorship 4. American Historians and the Democratic Idea 5. American… More

Two Cheers for Capitalism

– New York: Basic Books, March 1978.
PART ONE: The Enemy of Being is Having 1. Corporate Capitalism in America 2. Business and the “New Class” 3. Frustrations of Affluence 4. Ideology and Food 5. The… More

Books for Christmas

– “Books for Christmas” (A symposium), American Spectator, December 1990.
Excerpt: Here are three recommendations. They are all fiction, all twentieth century, are available in paperback, but are not contemporary. I keep meeting people who do not know these… More

Countercultures

– "Countercultures," Commentary, December 1994.
Excerpt: Countercultures are dangerous phenomena even as they are inevitable. Their destructive power always far exceeds their constructive power. The delicate task that faces our… More

A Man without Footnotes

– Nathan Glazer, "A Man without Footnotes," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Irving Kristol in London

– Sir Peregrine Worsthorne, "Irving Kristol in London," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Following Irving

– Norman Podhoretz, "Following Irving," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea

– New York: Free Press, 1995.
SECTION I 1. An Autobiographical Memoir   SECTION II: RACE, SEX, AND FAMILY 2. Welfare: The Best of Intentions, the Worst of Results 3. The Tragedy of “Multiculturalism” 4.… More

An Autobiographical Memoir

– “An Autobiographical Memoir” from Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea, (New York, NY: The Free Press, 1995).
Excerpt: Is there such a thing as a “neo” gene? I ask that question because, looking back over a lifetime of my opinions, I am struck by the fact that they all quality as “neo.” I… More

Arguing the World

– "Arguing the World" (A documentary), written and directed by Joseph Dorman, January 7, 1998.

Arguing the World

– Arguing the World: The New York Intellectuals in Their Own Words, ed. Joseph Dorman (New York: Free Press, 2000). (Transcript of TV interviews from 1998.)

Farewell to the Godfather

– Christopher Hitchens, "Farewell to the Godfather," Slate, September 20, 2009.
Excerpt: The neoconservative faction, or should we say movement, is generally secular and often associated with the name of Leo Strauss. Kristol was one of those who never minded saying… More

Irving Kristol

– "Irving Kristol," The Economist, September 24, 2009.
Excerpt: Conservatism, Kristol-style, acquired a “neo”. He was always, he mused, a neo-something: neoMarxist, neoliberal, neo-Orthodox (because he believed, though he wasn’t sure… More

Beyond Ideology

– James Q. Wilson, "Beyond Ideology," Wall Street Journal, January 21, 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: The essays in “The Neoconservative Persuasion”—all but one never before brought together in a book—are a remarkable introduction to one of the few people who… More

Irving Kristol’s Brute Reason

– Paul Berman, "Irving Kristol's Brute Reason," New York Times Book Review, January 30, 2011.
Excerpt: And, in this new spirit, he plunged into his magnum opus, which, instead of a book, was the constructing of something called “neoconservatism.” This was intended to be a new… More

Irving Kristol’s Neoconservative Persuasion

– Gertrude Himmelfarb, "Irving Kristol's Neoconservative Persuasion," Commentary, February 2011.
Excerpt: Much has been made of the consistency of tone in his writings—bold and speculative but never dogmatic or academic, always personal, witty, ironic. That tone is not only a matter… More

The Flexible Temperament

– James Piereson, "The Flexible Temperament," The New Criterion, March 2010. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: Kristol’s intellectual contribution was to bring these fundamental ideas into contemporary debates about politics and public policy through his writings in outlets like the Wall… More