Lengthened Shadows: America and Its Institutions in the Twenty-First Century (Paperback)

by Roger Kimball (Author) "ON SEPTEMBER 2, 1898 at Omdurman on the banks of the Nile just outside of Khartoum, an Anglo-Egyptian army under the command of General Herbert..." (more)
Key Phrases: military transformation, United States, New York, Supreme Court (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
Fans of the New Criterion, the Harper's for cultural elites bending right, will likely recognize most of the contributors to this anthology, which, like its parent publication, prefers to fortify its criticism with a healthy (if not liberal) dose of eulogy. As such, this selection combines politically self-conscious praise for American high modernism in architecture, poetry, and war with mournful longing for the very nearly departed in American society. Some are more indignant than others. Coeditor Kimball's "Institutionalizing Our Demise," a Samuel Huntington-esque^B appeal to reverse the centrifugal forces of multiculturalism, spits more bile than Jay Nordlinger's assessment of the state of classical music, which suffers primarily from a glut of enthusiastic, qualified performers. Robert Bork's piece on recent Supreme Court jurisprudence, likewise committed to provocative gloominess, will resonate with strict constructionists and social conservatives. It preaches to the choir at times, but alongside all its exhortations and laments shine some thought-provoking insights, such as theologian David B. Hart's intuitive musings on the unique ecstasies of American religion, perhaps this selection's best essay. Brendan Driscoll
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Review
The lengthening shadow of Roger Kimball and Hilton Kramer is undeniable and so is the learning of the contributors. -- William F. Buckley

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Product Details

• Paperback: 255 pages
• Publisher: Encounter Books; 1st Pbk. Ed edition (November 25, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594030545
• ISBN-13: 978-1594030543
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 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: #1,340,713 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Shadows of the conservative mind, December 1, 2004

By	Richard LeComte "richlec" (Tuscaloosa, AL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

These essays take a clearly written, detailed and only occasionally overstated look at the state of our culture and our institutions. David Hart's essay on religion in America is the most cogent as he argues that a certain Dionysian form of Christian relgious fervor is holding sway over the country as liberal religion recedes. Robert Bork's essay on the imperial judiciary, which has ignored the Constitution to form judgments based on the thinking of the elite, is well written and exciting as well. Essays on architecture and poetry are better at showing us what isn't up to snuff rather than what should be happening (I rather like ornament in architecture, even if it's done ironically), and Mark Steyn's Jeremiad on the U.S. educational system, while true to a point, probably overstates the crisis in the classrooms. Finally, Hilton Kramer's summary of modernism is helpful for the lay reader seeking enlightenment of art, but as in his other work his attempts to draw a clear line between modernism and postmodernism, other than one is sincere and one isn't, just doesn't work. I, an uninformed reader, just can't see the difference between splatter and maggoty meat, although I admit that lots of excellent art has been brought forth over the last 50 years. These essays, however, make for engrossing reading, particularly the essay on military strategy, which attacks the Bush-Rumsfeld Defense Department, appropriately, from the right.