Culture in an Age of Money: The Legacy of the 1980s in America [Paperback]

Nicolaus Mills (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0929587715 | ISBN-13: 978-0929587714 | Publication Date: August 1, 1991

As the Reagan administration began, Nancy Reagan chose new china for the White House—at a cost of $209,508. The pattern for the decade was struck. As the Reagans made wealth seem glamorous, what followed was a culture dominated by a belief in the “magic of the marketplace.” Money words became the key language for the eighties, and they signaled a culture with an insatiable need to proclaim its triumphs. In the wake of the Reagan years, fifteen brilliant essayists survey the kind of culture created by Reagan politics and Reagan ideology. From architecture to the yuppie ascendancy, including politics, film, art, literature, finance, fashion, religion, and civil rights, eighties’ culture is explored with telling analysis and penetrating wit. When most of these essays first appeared in Dissent magazine, the Village Voice called them a “must read.” We are not likely to get a sharper appraisal of our contemporary culture than this. The contributors are William Adams, Laura Bergheim, Mark Caldwell, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Todd Gitlin, Josephine Hendin, Hendrik Hertzberg, Irving Howe, Ross Miller, Nicolaus Mills, Robert Reich, Herman Schwartz, Debora Silverman, Alessandra Stanley, and Sean Wilentz.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

All but a few of the 15 essays that form this book originally appeared in the left-of-center opinion magazine Dissent. Each essay critically examines touchstones of what editor Mills calls the "conservative culture of the 1980s." Among the best pieces are Herman Schwartz's "Civil Rights and the Reagan Court," Robert Reich's look at corporate takeovers in "A Culture of Paper Tigers," Sean Wilentz's profile of Jerry Falwell in "The Trials of Televangelism," and Mark Caldwell's "The Literature of AIDS." This intelligent collection nicely complements John Taylor's Circus of Ambition ( LJ 8/89), another questioning look back at the Eighties. Recommended especially for libraries lacking Dissent. -- Kenneth F. Kister, Tampa, Fla.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

A stinging indictment of the Reagan era for its effects on both highbrow and popular culture...The targets are many and the attacks are proudly partisan. (The Progressive )

Curious and tantalizing...a benchmark not of the present but of history. (Bell, Daniel )

Amusing, caustic, and cleverly written. (Herbert Mitgang New York Times )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 254 pages
• Publisher: Ivan R Dee (August 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0929587715
• ISBN-13: 978-0929587714
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,115,785 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)