Decade of Denial: A Snapshot of America in the 1990s (Paperback)

by Herbert London (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Herbert London's new work "Decade of Denial" places America in the 1990s under the microscope and discovers a country paying a heavy price for the excesses of the past, crippled by the cultural attitudes and rebelliousness of the sixties and seventies. London argues that the baby boomer generation has replaced openness with stealth, and honesty with deceit. Far from mere nostalgic musings for a simpler time, "Decade of Denial" wonderfully captures the zeitgeist of the 1990s from the "dumbing down" of education to the proliferation of crass popular culture. This is an essential book for serious readers of American cultural history seeking to understand the evolution of modern 'manners' and 'morals,' and an indictment of a generation freed from the constraints of virtue.

About the Author
Herbert London is President of the Hudson Institute and Professor of Humanities at New York University . He is the author or co-author of thirteen books including "From the Empire State to the Vampire State: New York in A Downward Transition" (1994), "The Broken Apple: New York City in the 1980's", (1989), "Armageddon in the Classroom", (1986) and "Myths That Rule America", (1981).

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Lexington Books (August 28, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0739102796
• ISBN-13: 978-0739102794
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,373,362 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars decade of decline, December 8, 2002

By	Yalensian - See all my reviews

This review is from: Decade of Denial: A Snapshot of America in the 1990s (Hardcover)

London provides an interesting survey of the 1990s. The decade he paints is one mired in postmodernism and relativism, one that denies that man is imperfect and not perfectible. 90s culture was basically a wasteland, driven mostly by marketability and greed, in which previous conceptions of the family, or of art, or of excellence, were eroded and replaced. "Nothingness" (a la Seinfeld) was celebrated. It was a media-driven era.

London dedicates the majority of his book to education--kindergarten through college. Curricula were turned into mulicultural and postmodern nightmares. Other cultures were to be studied either to the exclusion or outright denigration of the US. Feminist ideas turned physical education classes into "genderless" activity times, instead of rigorous classes in physical exercise and well-being. They also ate away at high school athletics, as girls sought to join football teams. All notions of excellence were fading away, as educators feared offending people or elevating one above another, or insisted that regardless of performance, all were equal somehow.

I personally would have enjoyed a section devoted to government and politics in the 1990s and how they fit in with everything else. Still, from what London has presented here, it's not too difficult, I suppose, to figure out that the transformation of politics (and the Clinton business) are part and parcel of these other trends.

All in all, the book is a solid (and slim) overview of this decade that witnessed unprecedented economic growth and prosperity, even as culture and society sank deeper and deeper into the ashbin. The two developments are not entirely unrelated, and in many ways, the trends of the 1990s only continue into 2002.