The Gift of Fire [Paperback]

Richard Mitchell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1999

Twenty-odd years ago, Richard Mitchell, a professor at New Jersey’s Glassboro State College, set out on a quixotic pursuit: the rescue of the English language and the minds of those attached to the world by it. Donning cape and mask as “The Underground Grammarian,” Mitchell sallied forth upon his newsletter against the nonsense being spoken, written, and, indeed, encouraged by the educational establishment. (“One thing led to another,” as he tells it, “a front page piece in The Wall Street Journal, a proÞle in Time, and other such. Before it was over, The Underground Grammarian came to be, in the world of desktop printing, the Þrst publication to have subscribers on every continent except Antarctica.”) What began as a vivid catalog of ignorance and inanity in the written work of professional educators and their hapless students soon became an enterprise of most noble moment: an investigation, via mordant wit and Þerce intelligence, of “what we might usefully decide to mean by ‘education.’” The results of Mitchell’s inquiries are as stimulating today as they were when Þrst articulated. His project remains a telling explication of how, through writing, we discover thought and make knowledge. It is certainly the most drolly entertaining.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Mitchell, author of Less Than Words Can Say (Little, 1979) and editor/publisher of the Undergroud Grammarian, here analyzes the link between thought and moral action. In a series of chatty but superbly written essays, he argues that we must each accept responsibility for the development of our own sense of reason and judgment; we cannot leave it to some organic entity called "humanity." In this, Mitchell follows a path trodden by such luminaries as Kierkegaard, Gabriel Marcel, and Sartre. This is the way philosophy should be written: witty, substantial, and engaging. By all means read the title essay, with its send-up of intelligence tests. Highly recommended. Terry Skeats, Bishop's Univ. Lib., Lennoxville, Quebec, Canada
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 188 pages
• Publisher: Akadine Pr (June 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1888173947
• ISBN-13: 978-1888173949
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,810,460 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Please reprint this book, December 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Gift of Fire: With Wit and Daring, the Underground Grammarian Examines Why We Can't Think (Hardcover)

One of the joys of reading is finding an out of print book or an author you've never heard of, and having the book change your life. Richard Mitchell's books are clear, hilarious, fascinating critiques of the decline and fall of Western Civilization. I first found Mitchell's Graves of Academe by accident in the library. I quickly read all his books, including The Gift of Fire, which is excellent. The latter is the only one I have not come to own through used books stores and sales. Unfortunately it is also the most moving and important and the one I most often want to lend out or quote to my students. I am always amazed when I reread Mitchell that, despite years of teaching, I had never heard of him. On the other hand, his ideas and advice are toxic to the educational extablishment and all hypocritical and unthinking aspects of our society, and I can understand why education schools everywhere would eschew him. If I had to recommend three authors to an aspiring teacher, they would be Mitchell, Kozol and Postman, in that order. I normally do not submit reviews, but anything to get this and other of Mitchell's books into other hands (or reprinted) is worth it.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simple, elegant beliefs in a readable language, June 27, 2002

By 

J. Roberts "RP madman" - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Gift of Fire (Paperback)

I've never read a book quite like this one. It manages to be scholarly but entertaining, educational but entertaining and . . . well, just plan good, cover to cover.

My favourite portion of the book covers Jesus' confrontation with the teachers of the law concerning a woman found in adultery. The author is straightforward in his approach to the situation and, by not bogging himself down with needless pedagogy and epistemology, shows the simple wisom of Jesus and how it can apply to us.

We all should read this.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The essential book for every thinking person, November 6, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Gift of Fire: With Wit and Daring, the Underground Grammarian Examines Why We Can't Think (Hardcover)

Richard Mitchell (aka The Underground Grammarian)examines what it means to be a thinking person. Not a how-to book, but a study of the relationship of morality, education and thought, "The Gift of Fire" considers the human experience from the pre-historic cave painters to slavery and cannibalism to nuclear war and child-rearing. With subtle wit and brilliant clarity, Mitchell uses stories as diverse as the parable of the stoning of the adulterous woman to his own experiences in a toll booth to show the role of Reason in living a satisfying life. A tour de force! If you can find a copy, it's a must read.