Letters to a Young Conservative (Art of Mentoring) [Paperback]

Dinesh D'Souza (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 12, 2005 | Series: Art of Mentoring

Dinesh D'Souza rose to national prominence as one of the founders of the Dartmouth Review, a leading voice in the rebirth of conservative politics on college campuses in the 1980s.He fired the first popular shot against political correctness with his best-selling exposé Illiberal Education. Now, after serving as a Reagan White House staffer, the managing editor of Policy Review, and a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and the Hoover Institution, he addresses the next generation in Letters to a Young Conservative. Drawing on his own colorful experiences, both within the conservative world and while skirmishing with the left, D'Souza aims to enlighten and inspire young conservatives and give them weapons for the intellectual battles that they face in high school, college, and everyday life. Letters to a Young Conservative also illuminates the enduring themes that for D'Souza anchor the conservative position: not "family values" or patriotism, but a philosophy based on natural rights and a belief in universal moral truths.With a light touch, D'Souza shows that conservatism needn't be stodgy or defensive, even though it is based on preserving the status quo. To the contrary, when a conservative has to expose basic liberal assumptions to scrutiny, he or she must become a kind of imaginative, fun-loving, forward-looking guerrilla--philosophically conservative but temperamentally radical.Among the topics Dinesh D'Souza covers in Letters to a Young Conservative: Fighting Political CorrectnessAuthentic vs. Bogus MulticulturalismWhy Government Is the ProblemWhen the Rich Get RicherHow Affirmative Action Hurts BlacksThe Feminist MistakeAll the News That FitsHow to Harpoon a LiberalThe Self-Esteem HoaxA Republican Realignment?Why Conservatives Should Be Cheerful

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A young foot soldier of the "Reagan Revolution," bestselling author D'Souza (What's So Great About America, etc.) came to prominence during his years at Dartmouth, as one of the founders of the controversial Dartmouth Review. In his latest book, the newest installment in the Art of Mentoring series, D'Souza provides students of the next generation with a basic understanding of modern conservatism and its fundamental precepts. Addressing a fictional student by the name of "Chris," D'Souza outlines the major distinctions between the three main political positions in the U.S.: liberalism, conservatism and libertarianism. He goes on to explain how conservatism debunks an array of issues, such as affirmative action (it strengthens the "widespread suspicion that [blacks] might be intellectually inferior"), feminism ("the feminist error was to embrace the value of the workplace as greater than the value of the home"), postmodernism ("pompous, verbose, and incoherent") and some lesser known sins such as the "self-esteem hoax" (self-esteem doesn't promote better performance). In these chapters, the author is witty, even irreverent at times. He punctures the stereotype of conservatism as the dry and stodgy movement that liberals love to hate. Rather he says, conservatives are "radicals," resisting the morally deficient tide of modern liberalism, fighting for a common code of virtues. D'Souza will no doubt succeed in inspiring young conservatives to go out into the world and fight for what they believe in.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Perfect for every undergraduate. And for every graduate who has forgotten, or never knew, the amplitude of the arguments for American conservatism."

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (April 12, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0465017347
• ISBN-13: 978-0465017348
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (92 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #188,872 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

In the fall of 2010 Dinesh D'Souza was named the President of The King's College, a Christian College located in the Empire State Building in New York City. The mission of The King's College is to transform society by educating students so that they are prepared to shape and lead the strategic institutions.

D'Souza brings to King's a distinguished 25 year career as a writer, scholar and intellectual. A former policy analyst in the Reagan White House, D'Souza also served as an Olin Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute as well as a Rishwain Scholar at the Hoover Institution at Stanford.

Called one of the "top young public-policy makers in the country" by Investor's Business Daily, D'Souza quickly became a major influence on public policy through his writings. Illiberal Education, his first book publicized the phenomenon of political correctness in America's colleges and universities and was on the best seller list for 15 weeks. Subsequent best sellers, include Ronald Reagan: How an Ordinary Man Became an Extraordinary Leader, The Virtue of Prosperity, Finding Values in an Age of Techno Affluence, What's So Great About America, Letters to a Young Conservative and What's So Great About Christianity, and The Roots of Obama's Rage. His latest work, Godforsaken, responds to the problem of evil and will be available March 1, 2012.

A prolific, writer, persuasive debater, and sought after speaker on college campuses as well as many other venues, D'Souza has been named one of America's most influential conservative thinkers by the New York Times.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fine introduction; fine review., October 7, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Letters to a Young Conservative (Hardcover)

Mr. D'Souza has written a fine introduction to conservatism as we find it in the contemporary era. As one volume in the interesting series, The Art of Mentoring (from Basic Books), D'Souza addresses his conception of conservative politics to a young college student thru a series of brief, witty, and well-informed epistles. As a man who has had an impact on campus conservatism, first as a contributor to the nearly legendary Dartmouth Review and later thru his own books (ILLIBERAL EDUCATION and THE END OF RACISM among others), D'Souza is well-placed to polemicize conservatism for a college audience. Recommended for young conservatives and libertarians, and for older ones who may have forgotten the fiery, early arguments which brought them to their positions--the Right and correct positions, I hasten to add!

59 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Black Democrat, December 25, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Letters to a Young Conservative (Hardcover)

I am a 24 African American, and I found this book to be a mind opener. I live at a campus that is very liberal and every day I get shrill after shrill about how awful America is. I swear to GOD I have never gotten a differnt view point about america. I always just thought my counrty was sick and somehow evil but this book brings some light into the complexity of this nation. I am so sick of the attacks on this country by proffesors and liberals. The students are talking about transvestive studies being added to my school, and why I am homophobic if I dont support it...pleeease!! I have had it I think the saying is true a conservative is a liberal who has been robbed and I think I ahve gotten robbed and I am mad, very mad. I am still a democrat but I am voting Republican 2004. I am so sick of this ...
God bless america

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Refreshing, December 19, 2002

By 

Adam M. King (Cambridge, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Letters to a Young Conservative (Hardcover)

Dinesh D'Souza has written here about the very foundation for conservatism and why he holds to conservative values. This book is a must-buy for liberals and conservatives. I would encourage liberals to pick it up not to be 'enlightened', but rather, at the very least, to understand where conservatives are coming from. Conservatives will enjoy reading D'Souza's candid analysis of affirmative action, feminism, and multiculturalism. Dinesh truly understands the issues, addresses both arguments, and cites many examples throughout of why conservative doctrine is legitimate. All in all, it's a great book for both political and social understanding. Highly recommended.