BOOK REVIEW

The Twilight of American Culture
written by Morris Berman
published by W. W. Norton, 2000
183 pages of text; 20 pages of notes and index

 

This book is crippled by two basic flaws.

Flaw #1: Berman's main point is that American culture is declining, but he never identifies the time period during which he would argue that it was at its peak.

Flaw #2: Berman's main recommendation for those interested in preserving American culture is to imitate the monks of the Dark Ages, and isolate themselves from their decaying society; his reasoning being that it was the monks who preserved the great texts of Ancient Greece and Rome. This reasoning is wrong. Western monks did not save those texts, Byzantium and the Islamic caliphates did. (What Berman should be recommending to his readers, then, is that they emigrate to China, India, and Western Europe, and interest the governments of those areas in preserving the best of American culture.)

If you enjoy the colorful verbiage, free-floating anecdotes, and self-righteous moralizing of a good rant (and I certainly do, in small doses), then Twilight is definitely worth a glance. Otherwise, pass.

Those who find Berman's book persuasive might want to take a look at Jacques Barzun's 1959 book, The House of Intellect, in which the same theme of cultural decline is presented (though without the apocalyptic rhetoric). I suggest this extra reading because it is worth noting that American culture has been declining for a long time now, and one supposes that, in some people's minds, it always will be.

 

Review posted: 1 January 2001

 

 

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