Dispatches From the Culture Wars (Hardcover)

by Danny Goldberg (Author) "IN 1963, WHEN I WAS THIRTEEN and the Beatles' recordings made their first invasion of the United States, I was already in love with the..." (more)
Key Phrases: liberal snobs, culture bashing, swing states, New York, Los Angeles, White House (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
In a meeting with Jack Newfield, according to Goldberg, liberal Sen. Charles Schumer confessed to having never heard of Eminem. This illustrates record producer and civil liberties activist Goldberg's powerful critique of the left and the Democratic Party's failure to stay in touch with its broad popular base and with popular culture as a way of reaching them. It takes a while for the political content to kick into gear, but once broached, it never lets up. Here is that rare breed of book that can deconstruct gangsta rap as effectively as it analyzes the 1988 presidential election, a book in which Lenny Kravitz and Kurt Cobain have an equal footing with Joe Lieberman and John McCain. The long battle Goldberg helped wage against Tipper Gore over rock lyrics in the 1980s underscores many of the book's themes, such as the disconnect between politics and popular music and the "arrogant sense of entitlement" among many powerful Democrats and leftists, which alienates young voters. The author's own record label, Artemis, has sparked controversy, releasing both the Steve Earle song "John Walker's Blues," which infuriated conservative pundits, and Cornel West's rap album, which Harvard president (and former Clinton treasury secretary) Larry Summers said "embarrassed" the university. Whether boomer Democrats heed his call to abandon their hostility to younger voters (whom, Goldberg says, they term "ignorant") remains to be seen, but few people could make the case as effectively as Goldberg does.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
"An effecting memoir of Goldberg's experiences within the clash of popular culture and politics." -- Library Journal

"Goldberg authoritatively dissects the disconnect between progressive politics and younger voters." -- Time Out New York

"Rock, rap, reactionaries, and liberals all get a thrashing in Goldberg's insightful Dispatches from the Culture Wars." -- Vanity Fair

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Miramax (June 11, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786868961
• ISBN-13: 978-0786868964
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #933,843 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not what I expected--consider Barney Frank's book instead, June 29, 2003

By	P. Meltzer (Wynnewood, PA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In my experience when a book's title has a colon in it, I find that what precedes the colon is usually a nonspecific (sometimes punny) metamessage, while what follows the title is usually what the book is actually about. With that in mind, I expected the book to be about "how the left lost teen spirit." While there were, to be sure, portions of the book devoted to that issue, that was always based solely on Goldberg's own experiences and nothing more. I found that the rest of the book was a kind of Cliff Notes (i.e. condensed) autobiography of Goldberg's own career in music combined with some of the most flagrant and copious name-dropping I have seen in a long time. I suppose that a more accurate subtitle would have been: "How the left lost teen spirit based primarily on my own anecdotal experience as a record executive interested in politics and specifically based on my run-ins with Joe Lieberman and Tipper Gore over the issue of attempted consorship of record content." In fact, while I wholeheartedly agreed with all of Goldberg's opinions and conclusions on this specific issue, I still felt that the discussion of this issue took up way too much of the book (which is perhaps not surprising given my complaint above).

The subtitle was also troubling to me in that it begs the question: When did that spirit last exist? In other words, if the left "lost" teen spirit, what is the time frame Goldberg is using for when it last had it? It would appear that he may be referring way back to the Kennedy adminstration as the answer to that question. If so, that is troubling for 2 reasons. First, 40 years is way too long a time frame to assume that the left has had no "teen spirit". Is Goldberg suggesting that it existed in 1963 and prior, but not since? That is doubtful. Indeed, while not dispositive of whether the left has lost teen spirit, it should at least be noted that Democrats have won 4 of 10 elections since Kennedy's assasination (and 5 of 10 if one considers the 2000 election as a Democratic victory).

If Goldberg instead had in mind a more recent date for when the left last had teen spirit, it should have been specified more clearly so that the reader can compare and contrast what life was like when they had it and when they didn't. However Goldberg never really goes there. He points out how it is lacking in the past few years but never really tells us how the given issues might have been addresed (and by whom) at that (never identified) time when the spirit still exised.

A footnote: Having read "Shakedown" by Kenneth Timmerman, I was nauseated by Goldberg's constant paeans to Jessie Jackson, notwithstanding the fact that Jackson may not have tried a shakedown in the specific Eric Kronfeld/Polygram incident to which Goldberg refers.

In sum, while one might think that it is a benefit to have a book on this topic written by an "insider" (or at least a semi-insider), I feel that a book on a similar topic written by an outsider might have been more valuable since its focus would not have been so strongly tied solely to the experiences of one individual. In my mind, an example of a book on almost the exact same topic which did a better job of it is "Speaking Frankly" by Barney Frank. (In keeping with my rule for titles with colons in them, the portion of the title which precedes the colon is a pun--i.e. a play on Frank's name--while what follows--"What's Wrong With the Democrats and How to Fix It"--is what the book is actually about.) Even though the book [has been out for years] (Clinton was not even President!), it is still surprisingly applicable to the state of the Democratic party today. Moreover, because it is not confined, in tunnel vision fashion, to the author's own experiences, I felt that it was able to describe the problem more effectively than does Goldberg.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Dispatched from the Culture Wars, January 4, 2004

By	Rich Schmick (Kansas City, Mo USA) - See all my reviews

I originally grabbed this book because I am a politics junkie. I am in my mid-30s and have often been struck by the contrast between the Democrat and Republican parties of my youth and their current incarnations. As the son of Democrat union member, I have seen significant changes in the Democratic party of my youth and the one of today that I can no longer uncritically support.

That being said, I was hopeful to gain some insight from Mr. Goldberg's book, but I am afraid I was disappointed. My biggest concern with this novel is that the vast majority of his arguments are anecdotal in nature. He offers extremely little background to back up some of his claims and no real research or footnotes. Now, as a collection of personal experience and stories, this is a fine book. Mr. Goldberg has an engaging writing style and did drawn me in, however I did find much of the book, and its arguments, to be superficial. The admitted lack of introspection on his political views made it difficult for me give much credibility to the author's analysis.

Probably, the biggest problem I have is the ultimate contradiction in the book. While Mr. Goldberg spends considerable time lauding the effect of music and media on the political discourse in the 60s and 70s, he does a complete 180 degree turn when he later argues that gangster rap cannot have an impact on the the coarsening of our culture and inner city violence. It seems to me that it is difficult to have it both ways. Of course, perhaps the fact that he is making a considerable amount of money in the music industry contributes to his new enlightened attitude.

Personally, I do not think that rap music makes the huge impact on people that the Leibermans and Gores of the world would have us believe, but Mr. Goldberg presents little in the way of a cohesive argument.

Perhaps that brings me to my underlying problem with the book. For all his complaints about the Democratic Party, Mr. Goldberg does not seem to realize that he is part of the problem. He complains of the money that influences politics, but drops names of all the people he has gotten to contribute time and money to political causes. He take jibes at the special interest businesses that he alleges influence the Republican party, while completely missing the fact that he is part of several special interest groups. And for a person in a business which exploits struggling artists for massive profits to not realize he is in a special interest group is a particularly myopic view.

Mr. Goldberg was in a position to make a truly impactful novel. I feel that he has missed his mark. More's the shame because the topic is one that really deserves serious attention.

16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From a Mormon conservative, June 21, 2003

By	Randy A. Blosil (Orem, Utah) - See all my reviews

I'm an occasional listener to conservative talk radio. This radio community of dominant Republicans is galvanized each day by radio hosts in a belief that liberals live to hate family values, religion, George Bush (OK, many do), and flag-waving patriotism.

I was raised a conservative Mormon and I continue to hold fast my upbringing. But I was also raised on the Beatles, Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and San Francisco Bay Area bands. Eight kids later, I still play those records and my kids embrace most of it too.

Danny Goldberg was raised a liberal Democrat, attended Woodstock, met Hendrix, worked with Zeppelin, managed Kurt Cobain and worked with and signed many of the artists whose CDs I buy. Goldberg's account of his career through the 60's to 2003 is worth alone the price of the book. However, be prepared to bristle at his characterizations of our conservative heroes as well as his positive references to his liberal pals like Barbra Streisand, Michael Moore, Arianna Huffington, and other ACLU members.

But engage your mind a little. Shut off the radio for a day or so and let him talk to you one-on-one about his confrontations with the liberal elite and their placating arrogance. Let him vent his frustrations about Tipper and Al Gore and their disingenuous sincerety, or his indictment on Joe Lieberman, forever closing the door on any future political support. What you'll find is an honest voice, a man raised with consistent, righteous, social values. Goldberg's life represents learning through first-hand experience rather than second-hand dogma, a condition most of us conservatives suffer. And if you don't like his politics, then be prepared to get off your keister like he has for 30 years and do something about it.

No, I'm not liberal in disguise thumping a liberal's book. I just feel a little wiser after spending some time with Goldberg's life, his career in entertainment, and how they're inextricably connected with politics. As a result, I'm tending to believe that if we strip away the anger, the personal insults, and the holy cows of partisan ballot punching, we'll find a common bond in our humanity. And then we may realize that we've been really violently agreeing with each other.

"[And that] castles made of sand, melts into the sea eventually."
Jimi Hendrix