Crosspost: Lazere On Bloom’s The Closing Of The American Mind

Professor Donald Lazere beat me to an article I first thought about over a year ago: write a twenty-year retrospective analysis of the reception of Allan Bloom’s The Closing of the American Mind. Well, since I didn’t do it, I might as well point you to his view of the book’s legacy. And here’s another piece by Rachel Donadio from last Sunday’s New York Times.

Perhaps Lazere and Donadio’s articles will help in the ongoing evaluations of the Culture Wars by historians. For instance, I was not happy with the analysis of Bloom’s book in James T. Patterson’s Restless Giant: I wanted more unpacking of meaning in Patterson’s story. Hopefully distance will cool tempers and give the next generation a substantial critical analysis of what has happened in the U.S. from the 1970s to now. – TL