WHAT ARE INTELLECTUALS GOOD FOR? appraises a large gallery of twentieth-century intellectuals, including Randolph Bourne, Dwight Macdonald, Lionel ...
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Apr 29, 2009
Balm for the unemployed academic's soul: such is my sense of this book after hearing Maureen Corrigan's warm and thoughtful review on Fresh Air.
Her review begins thusly:
Some years ago, when, at last, I'd finished my belabored dissertation and got my Ph.D. in literature, a relative of mine "congratulated" me by asking: "So, are you making any money now?"
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Her review begins thusly:
Some years ago, when, at last, I'd finished my belabored dissertation and got my Ph.D. in literature, a relative of mine "congratulated" me by asking: "So, are you making any money now?"
(source) More...
Jan 04, 2010
Christopher
rated it: 
George Scialabba's essay collection, What Are Intellectuals Good For? is outwardly a lament for the civic culture and the late great public intellectuals. But it more truly a modern model of wondrously civilized dedication to the ecstatic discipline of ideas. Listen to our conversation.
Apr 07, 2010
Melissa
rated it: 
Well, after slogging through the last half of this book I can't quite say for sure what intellectuals are good for.
Except maybe to think and write books.
Scialabba has a nice style of writing but I think what makes me go "meh" about What Are Intellectuals Good For? is a problem on my end. Many of the essays in this book are book reviews or political criticism - unfortunately, I haven't read the books under consideration and my political acumen is about nil. My More...
Except maybe to think and write books.
Scialabba has a nice style of writing but I think what makes me go "meh" about What Are Intellectuals Good For? is a problem on my end. Many of the essays in this book are book reviews or political criticism - unfortunately, I haven't read the books under consideration and my political acumen is about nil. My More...
Jul 16, 2009
Chris
rated it:
Reading this book is like taking a short course not only in the work of the most important contemporary intellectuals, but in the Western philosophical and literary canon itself. Scialabba might be the best book critic in the country right now, and his writing exemplifies the power of clear and finely wrought prose. I hope to be able to write half as well about books and ideas before I die.
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Jul 16, 2011
I'd never heard of this guy, but came across beguiling review in Logos (a mag I'd never heard of either -- a two-fer day of fine discoveries).
http://logosjournal.com/2011/george-scia...
http://logosjournal.com/2011/george-scia...
Nov 12, 2010
Eric
rated it: 
Introduced me to a field I thought I'd exhausted with The Nation & similar mags. Political and social philosophy criticism from a rad-left yet sane position.
Wonderful to see Said dealt with properly. And how have I missed Christopher Lasch?! Or Ellen Willis?!
Guess who's next!
Wonderful to see Said dealt with properly. And how have I missed Christopher Lasch?! Or Ellen Willis?!
Guess who's next!
Jun 06, 2009
Saw this in AGNI online as linked from aldaily.com (http://www.bu.edu/agni/reviews/online/20...). Looks good.
Jan 26, 2010
reed
rated it:
A promising start, but I didn't have time to really get into it. Hope I'll come back to this at a later date.
Apr 29, 2011
Anna
rated it:
Not only is this book amazing, it will point you towards some of the best reading of your life.
May 06, 2009
Looking forward to reading this book after hearing the NPR interview about the book and its author.
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