Waiting for the Barbarians
by Lewis H. Lapham
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Description
Lewis Lapham received the 1995 National Magazine Award for his essay writing in which the judges discovered 'an exhilarating point of view in an age of conformity'. With invective all the more deadly for its grace and wit, Lapham presents the portrait of a feckless American establishment gone large in the stomach and soft in the head. His acerbic remarks on the 1996 Presidential election take into account Steve Forbes' primary campaign, the non-candidacy of General Colin Powell, the comings show more and goings of Dick Morris, Senator Bob Dole's triumphant return to television as a pitchman for Air France, the building of Hillary Rodham Clinton's Potemkin village in Iowa, and the sublime vacuity of President Clinton's inaugural address. A previously unpublished and substantial concluding piece looks at the fate of indolent ruling classes through history. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
This is a collection of essays written and published from 1995-97. Lapham's writing is personal, literate, informed, didactic. It makes demands on unpracticed readers. His perception is that greed drives America. Intelligence and talent become dishonest in the service of money and power. He finds examples in American politics of the time, with historical parallels and references. The essays are excellent. The collection is coherent as reportage and memoire of the period.
I loved his essays in Harpers, but it is one thing to read them once a month and another to read them all back to back.
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Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, History, Politics and Government
- DDC/MDS
- 973.929 — History & geography History of North America United States 1901- Cold War, Vietnam War, Digital Age (1953-2001) Bill Clinton (1993-2001) North American Free Trade Agreement, Impeachment of Bill Clinton, Balanced Budget Surplus Era
- LCC
- E885 .L37 — History of the United States United States Later twentieth century, 1961-2000 Clinton's administrations, 1993-2001
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 68
- Popularity
- 458,310
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (3.50)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 2
