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Robert H. Bork
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Slouching Towards Gomorrah Paperback – May 9, 1997

by Robert H. Bork (Author)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 385 ratings
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There is a newer edition of this item:

Slouching Towards Gomorrah: Modern Liberalism and American Decline
Slouching Towards Gomorrah: Modern Liberalism and American Decline
$15.19
(385)
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In this New York Times bestselling book, Robert H. Bork, our country's most distinguished conservative scholar, offers a prophetic and unprecedented view of a culture in decline, a nation in such serious moral trouble that its very foundation is crumbling: a nation that slouches not towards the Bethlehem envisioned by the poet Yeats in 1919, but towards Gomorrah.

Slouching Towards Gomorrah is a penetrating, devastatingly insightful exposé of a country in crisis at the end of the millennium, where the rise of modern liberalism, which stresses the dual forces of radical egalitarianism (the equality of outcomes rather than opportunities) and radical individualism (the drastic reduction of limits to personal gratification), has undermined our culture, our intellect, and our morality.

Robert H. Bork sounds a very sobering alarm. We can accept our fate and try to insulate ourselves from the effects of a degenerating culture, or we can choose to halt the beast, to oppose modern liberalism in every arena. In the view of Robert Bork, an understanding of our problem and the will to resist may be our only hope.

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  1. Print length
    382 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    HarpPeren
  4. Publication date
    May 9, 1997
  5. Dimensions
    1.25 x 5.75 x 8.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0060987197
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0060987190
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"A brilliant and alarming exploration of the dark side of contemporary American culture. Bork has done an important and good deed." -- William J. Bennett, author of The Book of Virtues

"A brilliant blend of passionate conviction and sustained arguement. May be the most important book of the '90s." -- --Michael Novak, American Enterprise Institute

"A brilliant blend of passionate conviction and sustained arguement. May be the most important book of the '90s." -- Michael Novak, American Enterprise Institute

"Clearly and gracefully written, this humane and well-reasoned analysis...invites the respectful attention of liberals and conservatives alike." -- Eugene D. Genovese,Washington Post Book World

About the Author

Robert H. Bork has served as Solicitor General and Acting Attorney General of the United States, and as a United States Court of Appeals judge. A former professor of law at Yale Law School, he is currently a professor at Ave Maria School of Law, a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and the Tad and Dianne Taube Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution. Also the author of the bestselling The Tempting of America, he lives with his wife in McLean, Virginia.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarpPeren; Reprint edition (May 9, 1997)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 382 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0060987197
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0060987190
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 1.25 x 5.75 x 8.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 385 ratings

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Robert H. Bork

Robert H. Bork

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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
385 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the book intellectual, smart, and makes a lot of sense. They describe it as an excellent, compelling read with well-articulated points. Readers also mention the author is clear and plain-spoken.

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34 customers mention "Intelligence"34 positive0 negative

Customers find the book intellectual, smart, and sense-making. They appreciate the author's amazing knowledge of the subject matter and ability to present it in an eye-opening way. Readers also mention the book depicts reality and is an eye-opening read for college students.

"...Its principal strengths come from his knowledge, his wit, his refusal to pull punches and the clarity with which he sees our problems...." Read more

"I had always admired Robert Bork's brilliant mind and superb understanding of constitutional law...." Read more

"...This highly perceptive and well argued survey of American culture is, unfortunately, overshadowed by Judge Bork's relentless pessimism...." Read more

"...Bork is excellent and presents a very smart argument, one that (since most words are 5 syllables or more) may not be easy reading for everyone, but..." Read more

30 customers mention "Readability"30 positive0 negative

Customers find the book excellent, compelling, and well-written. They say it's worthwhile and a fine and important work.

"...This is a fine and important work that should be read even though it offers little comfort. This is more than deserving of five stars." Read more

"The book is a little old and a little dated, but still very worthwhile...." Read more

"...It is a great read for the highly intellectual type. But I did get his point and so very much agree...." Read more

"Far off from the neo-hedonism of libertarianism there exists the well-reasoned, constitutionally-grounded, and values-affirming conservatism of..." Read more

7 customers mention "Presentation"7 positive0 negative

Customers find the book fantastically thought-out and well-written. They appreciate the well-articulated points and convincing arguments. Readers also mention the author has a sterling, perceptive mind.

"...As you read Bork you will come to find he is very astute, a sterling, perceptive mind and a plain spoken, honest critic...." Read more

"...You'll be a better American because of it. -- it's neat !! XLNT Tranzaxion! Would buy again! Rating AAAAA+++++" Read more

"...want to know where this country is headed and why, this is a fantasticly thought out and well written book." Read more

"Well conceived and well written. He was a man who knew what he was talking about and said it well. He wrote and spoke from a position of authority...." Read more

7 customers mention "Writing quality"7 positive0 negative

Customers find the writing quality of the book well-written and clear. They also say the author is plain-spoken and an honest critic.

"...come to find he is very astute, a sterling, perceptive mind and a plain spoken, honest critic. If you believe in values this book will upset you...." Read more

"The book is well written...." Read more

"Excellent writing and thorough discussion of the many errors liberals have committed over the past century that have landed Western civilization on..." Read more

"Well conceived and well written. He was a man who knew what he was talking about and said it well. He wrote and spoke from a position of authority...." Read more

Old, heavily marked book sold as new
1 out of 5 stars
Old, heavily marked book sold as new
Amazing book. Over 20 years old and more relevant today than ever.I am writing this review because I was deceived. This book was sold as new, but is heavily marked, distractingly so. Five stars for Bork, 1 star for Amazon.
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Top reviews from the United States

Richard B. Schwartz
5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Reading.
Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2020
Verified Purchase
Patrick Deneen's recent book, WHY LIBERALISM FAILED, looks at two different views of liberty. One (the traditional definition) says that we must have the self-discipline to control our baser instincts and drives. If we do we are liberated from them and are morally free. The more recent definition ultimately sees liberty as equivalent to license—the freedom to do anything we please. This does not free us; it ensnares and constrains us and leads to a life of alienation and emptiness in which we are, essentially, enslaved. That is where we are now, living the cultural life encouraged by the 60's ('if it feels good, do it'). Judge Bork was there a generation earlier; the emptiness which follows license is only one of his subjects.

Judge Bork terms this phenomenon 'radical individualism'—the individual is freed from institutional constraints (as the 60's wished) but is nonetheless unhappy. He pairs this with 'radical egalitarianism', the notion that everyone should experience equality of result, regardless of personal gifts, inclinations or labors. Just as promiscuous sex and unbridled drug use lead to emptiness, the government's efforts to achieve equality of result do not work. We sort into hierarchies nonetheless, with the bureaucratic and 'intellectual' elites controlling us as we see standards lowered everywhere in order to achieve equality of result that looks more like lowest-common-denominator misery rather than universal happiness.

The cause of our current malaise and the reason why we are slouching towards Gomorrah is that the 60's won the cultural wars and the 'march through the institutions' advocated by the radical leftist Frankfurt School has been completed. Our educational institutions are in ruins; our churches are complicit in the near-total erosion of their previous authority; the courts (particularly the Supreme Court) make law that would never pass muster in the legislative process; the press (always biased to a noticeable degree) now lacks all credibility and the 'entertainment' industry provides mindless nonsense as well as pornography. The nuclear family (or what's left of it) remains under constant attack.

Although he does not discuss this at great length, the principal culprit for our situation is the comfortable life provided by our economic system. We can afford to be soft, needy, self-indulgent, spoiled and indolent because our biggest challenge is not the need for food, clothing and shelter but rather the battery life of our newest entertainment device.

Many individuals have argued these points, but few so eloquently as Judge Bork. This is a substantial book of 400+ pages. Considering the fact that he had significant day jobs in the law, this is a very impressive book of cultural history. Its principal strengths come from his knowledge, his wit, his refusal to pull punches and the clarity with which he sees our problems.

Unfortunately, he is unable to suggest solutions to our plight beyond three that are unlikely and, in the case of two of them, highly undesirable: a major world war, a massive economic depression and a religious revival.

Losing the opportunity to have him on the Supreme Court did not help our cultural cause.

Bottom line: this is essential reading for anyone concerned with our cultural condition and anxious to learn more concerning its etiology.
41 people found this helpful
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RL Erwin IV
5.0 out of 5 stars From an educated man in the know!
Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2024
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Robert H. Bork has done considerable work to relate a subject of decline we can all relate to!
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Stone Dog
5.0 out of 5 stars Both brilliant and prescient.
Reviewed in the United States on March 17, 2013
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I had always admired Robert Bork's brilliant mind and superb understanding of constitutional law. However, I had never read any of his books until his untimely death in December 2012. I bought "Slouching Towards Gomorrah" after his death in memorial to this brilliant American.

This is truly the magnum opus of a towering figure in constitutional law and societal commentator and I was shocked how prescient his work is. Having read it a couple decades after he wrote it gives one the ability to compare his dire predictions with the ugly reality of the outcome. He was generally spot-on.

In this book, Judge Bork chronicles the rise of the radical "liberal" as we call them (though cultural marxist would be a more accurate term) in the 1960's. The radical, hard-left successfully executed Gramsci's "long march through the institutions", beginning with the universities and have, over time, come to dominate not only academia but also infotainment, law, government, the hierarchies of mainline Christian churches.

His conclusions are not comforting, rather, quite dire and pessimistic. The reader will have to admit after reading this book that his pessimism was justified by events. It's frightening how close his predictions come to actual events in the continued march of the Communist...er, liberal...er, progressive ideology.

His reasoning is brilliant. His logic is flawless. One may not agree with everything he has to say, but one must admit his thought processes and ability to argue his points are brilliant. I do not agree with everything he writes (i don't think he went far enough on a number of topics) but I have to admit he was right on most points and wrong very rarely.

This is a fine and important work that should be read even though it offers little comfort. This is more than deserving of five stars.
29 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Joseph Myren
5.0 out of 5 stars AWESOME
Reviewed in Canada on May 13, 2024
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AWESOME
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Antony Ivins
5.0 out of 5 stars THE ROAD TO HELL
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 2, 2015
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This edition of the book contains an Afterword that covers the further deterioration in American culture and politics into the beginning of the new century. The Olympians command the heights and have destroyed any hope of achieving the American Dream.

The book describes the destruction of the cohesion of the United States. To political-elite-watchers this is a preparation for the formation of the North American Union, and eventual ‘global oligarchy’. It should be resisted, but welfare-dependency and rising permanent unemployment is intimidating the activists.

Since the ‘swinging sixties’ the growth of a pornographic culture has replaced the old virtues. “[T]he Church is supposed to evangelize the culture but instead the culture is evangelizing the Church” (Robert Royal). In the United Kingdom the Church of England is guilty of a major dereliction of duty: its priestly ranks are dominated by modern liberal thinkers who have only contempt for the ‘ten Commandments’ and rarely believe the Bible Story. They are not going to throw the money-lenders out of the Temple.

This is a book that describes the ‘new-liberal’ destruction of a culture that is giving acceleration to the people on their downward career on the slippery-slope to Hell.
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Chris
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on February 4, 2016
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Amazing. This book needs to be read!
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Greg Gauthier
4.0 out of 5 stars Prescient, disturbing, and uncanny
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 25, 2019
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This book, even it's 1996 passages, could easily have been written in 2012 or 2013. Everyone points to people like Douglas Murray or Jonathan Haidt as examples of cultural critics ahead of their time, but Robert Bork (and Allan Bloom before him) were warning is in precise detail, what was to come, decades before Haidt or Murray were even graduate students. Bork mentions identity politics, post-modern academics, campus speech policing, and the wholesale adoption of homosexuality in mainstream culture, long before any of this was in anyone's radar. To his credit, his 2004 afterword walks back his defense of censorship, having seen how the left was abandoning its support for the first amendment for political gain, 10 years before anyone else.

It is true, that Bork's attempt at defending intelligent design in this book is weak to the point of silliness (based largely on a layman's reading of Michael Behe's "Darwin's Black Box), and it's also true that his original defense of censorship is largely based on provoking disgust in the reader, which is a profoundly weak way to make the case. But in both situations, the arguments were not essential to the case made in this book, and did not detract from it. What's more, his piercing, but accessible critiques of constitutional law as interpreted (or not) by the supreme court, reminded me of his work in The Tempting of America, and made reading the whole book well worth the effort.
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S. Andersen
5.0 out of 5 stars It Needs to Be Said.
Reviewed in Canada on October 16, 2004
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Living as we are in an age where endless liberal spin and rationalizations have clouded our collective judgement, we are fortunate that a voice like judge Bork's speaks to us in clear, unequivocal terms. His observations are passionate but always tempered by reason and logic.
It has been said that in difficult times, the obvious must be stated loudly and clearly. This is Robert Bork's legacy and one that offers hope in the midst of our degenerative social spiral.
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