Baubles, Bangles, and Tweets: Reactions to The Reactionary Mind

  On Thursday, September 29, The Reactionary Mind was officially launched.  Because of Rosh Hashanah—Shanah Tovah to all of you!—I haven’t been able to keep up with the whirlwind of commentary and activity around the book.  With time, I hope to have lengthier, more substantive responses to the thought-provoking reactions I’ve read.  But in the meantime, I just wanted to give you all a quick roundup and a reminder. First, the reminder: I’m doing a public conversation with Chris Hayes over at the CUNY Graduate Center on Thursday, October 6, at 7 pm.  Details here. Come early; seating may be tight. Onto the reactions. Interviews Salon interviewed me about the book and contemporary conservatism more generally. Salt Lake City’s NPR […]

More News of the Book

Our last update of news about the book was October 26. Seemed like it was time for another one. As they say on Glee, here’s what you missed. Reviews Alan Wolfe had this to say in The New Republic: I confess to being one of those who likes to divide conservatives into their parts as opposed to treating them as a whole. Robin makes a vigorous case that I am wrong, and I am tempted by his analysis….Robin is an engaging writer, and just the kind of broad-ranging public intellectual all too often missing in academic political science. Now I too can invoke that hoary cliche “even The New Republic,” albeit to different purposes. John Kampfner was less enthusiastic in […]

News of the Book

It’s been a while since my last round-up of news about The Reactionary Mind. Here’s what you missed: Reviews Two reviews of the book have recently appeared. In The American Conservative, John Derbyshire—the British-born conservative who also happens to be a contributing editor at National Review—didn’t agree with or like the book. But he did have this to say (alas, the review’s behind the firewall): On the positive side, The Reactionary Mind at least does not snarl or sputter. It is a thoughtful, even-tempered sort of book. The old maid tendency that dominates liberal polemic in the U.S.—the shrieking, clutching at skirts, and jumping up on kitchen chairs that one gets from a Joe Nocera, a Maureen Dowd, or a […]