Quick Studies: The Best of Lingua Franca

by Alexander Star (Editor)

Lingua Franca covered the intellectual life of the 1990s--when American scholars took to the public stage as never before--with wit and passion and helped establish many of the leading voices in American journalism today.

Dedicated to the proposition that academia can compete for interest with Hollywood and Washington, Lingua Franca explained, in depth, the ideas of the decade--and told some of its least likely stories. In Quick Studies a physicist humiliates the gurus of postmodernism in an astonishing hoax; the "Dirty Harry" of literary theory renounces his calling; a Romanian dissident is assassinated in a faculty lavatory; and a leading feminist faces charges of sexual harassment.

Anyone concerned with the key debates of our time, and their idiosyncratic debaters, cannot afford to miss this book. It is nothing less than a collective portrait of the American intellectual in its native habits.

Genres: Philosophy, Literary Criticism, Literature, Anthologies, Nonfiction

544 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Lucas Gelfond · Rating 5 out of 5]

holy SHIT this was fucking incredible. found Lingua Franca after reading about Aaron Swartz's work re-hosting its site & in general curiosity about the 'little magazine' movement.

Lingua Franca was premised on the question: can academia command the same amount of public attention as entertainment and politics? The magazine aimed to be, essentially, the Vanity Fair of academia. so much of the commentary in here and way ideas are presented makes them infinitely more entertaining. So many of these pieces tow a line I thought was impossible between over-long tome and reductive/simplistic few paragraphs and pick really phenomenal subject matter. a little bit long and some essays I definitely liked better than others but this was really outstanding

[Greg Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty slick read; this compilation of pieces from the decade-long run of Lingua Franca is solid, always interesting and often amusing.

There’s a few longer, involved stories but most are 5-10 page glosses on academic controversy and other happenings. The journal ran over the course of the ‘90s, so I’d often bounce online after a read to see how those incidents had panned out in the twenty-five years since.

Nothing complicated or earth-shattering, just some low-commitment reading that had me happy as a clam. Probably tougher to muscle through if you aren’t already familiar with a lot of the main characters. (And including a piece by Ruth Shalit, even in the year 2002, should have either not happened or had a big asterisk.)

[Matthew Sun · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection is just fantastic. Lingua Franca, judged by the pieces included here, gives what I've always wanted in the discourse: a comprehensive look at all sides of a debate from a strong point of view (i.e., without claiming a false neutrality or objectivity), a close attention to the way the personal is intertwined with the political and the intellectual, a sense of humor, and analytical/critical/intellectual rigor. These pieces are both fun to read and thought-provoking; indeed, the writing on the culture wars and various internecine leftist conflicts are evergreen and easily outrank writing on these topics today. What I love about this collection, I think, is that it examines power, hierarchy, and status on all scales: capitalism and communism, of course, structure societies, but the status games of academia or art also structure the lives of those subcultures' inhabitants, and the wounds and values instilled during one's upbringing also shape one's life. A delicate push and pull between these various systems ultimately result in the narratives we tell ourselves about our lives, and the pieces in Quick Studies do their best to deconstruct and understand such narratives. The result is rarely a firm answer on the correctness of a theory, but it is almost always a deepened appreciation for the multifaceted nature of the truth.

[Zack · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of articles from the venerable and little-read "review of academic life," Quick Studies paints a rich picture of the debates that animated academia in the 1990s, mainly in the humanities and social sciences but also in biology and law. Some of it might feel a little dated -- the opening section, entitled "Reaction to Theory," is difficult to read partly because these critiques feel so tired by now and partly because they're still relevant -- but I would recommend this to anyone considering graduate study, experiencing college withdrawal, or simply interested in well-written, intellectually engaged journalism. It's no surprise that the alumni of Lingua Franca subsequently went on to write for the NYT Magazine and New Yorker; indeed, if you're familiar with the writing in those latter outlets over the last 10 years, it would seem like there has been an attempt to pick up where LF left off.

Though most of the pieces here are by journalists, academics are represented as well, and the occasional critique of a colleague's work (or an entire field) reaches the level of an academic article. But mostly what's on display here is keenly observed and thoroughly enjoyable shop talk, which seizes upon the best aspects of journalism (narrative and conflict) in examining the work -- and working life -- of academics.

Alas, my favorite pieces in Quick Studies were two I had already read online (and had prompted me to get the book in the first place), Margaret Talbot's "A Most Dangerous Method" and Rick Perlstein's "Who Owns the 60s?" Nonetheless, I was deeply satisfied with everything else the book had brought together.

[F.X. Altomare · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection of essays about the current states of various disciplines--and of academe in general--written by some of the most notable voices of the twentieth century. Everyone from Colin McGinn to Frank Lentricchia weigh in on various issues from the debates over consciousness (McGinn) to the regrettable politicization of literary criticism (Lentricchia). A treasure trove of essays, including Sokal's famous essay about the social construction of gravity that set off the much-publicized Science Wars of the late 90s. A great resource that collects the creme de la creme from a great journal.

[Alexander Weber · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book as a gift, from someone who said "I thought you'd like this". Having never heard of a magazine called Lingua Franca, I was skeptical. Huzza! This book is wonderful! Some articles aren't my flavour, but I'd have to say the far majority were. We've got science, philosophy, arts (that section wasn't very good, but it's the shortest), politics, university life, oh boy! And we're not talking watered down stuff either. I mean, a whole article on Richard Rorty? Yes please!

[Fritz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't imagine having read Lingua Franca with any interest during its own time, but having now graduated from college, within a fashionable, theory-addled, vaguely insane and totally awesome interdisciplinary humanities department, I look back on a magazine like this as a truly lost treasure. NB to Ellen: Lynne Joyrich makes a brief appearance!

[Gina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm totally kicking myself for not having read the original Lingua Franca, but am grateful for this "best of" collection of essays.

[Paige McLoughlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The magazine "lingua franca" did well for a while when there was more slack in the system and attention spans were thicker and things were comfortable enough in publishing slack that the pressure for grabbing eyeballs and attention wasn't as urgent. People could wander a bit and writers had some leeway and didn't have to be quite the spectacle needing quite as much "attitude" don't get me wrong that logic was there and growing but as I said there was some more slack in the 1990s you know before 9/11 or 2008 or 2016. Lots more slack. Nice that a serious mag could have what seems a more casual feel to it. I would love to have more casual writing nowadays that doesn't appeal to the algorithms.

[David J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of essays from a journal that I could only hope would be resurrected as it's more necessary now even than it was in its own time.

[GWC · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book of selected articles from the now-defunct magazine Lingua Franca which are generally very interesting. The early pieces left me wondering if everyone in academia is a self-absorbed careerist animated by an adolescent view of the world but my cynicism receded when I read of a group more concerned with Benjamin Franklin than themselves.

[Kirk Morrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you missed the dynamic and hip "Lingua Franca" in the 1990s- don't worry most of us did- here's your chance to dip into some of their best pieces. LF focused on some of the odd battles, passions, and intellectual street fights of academia with real punch and verve. Some of the chapters weren't of much interest to me but others really hit a high note.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lingua Franca was the best magazine ever. I miss it.

[T Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

At times dense but more often fascinating. Academics are as crazy as anyone else.

[drd · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best mixes of serious intellectualism and entertaining writing ever seen. Next to Elif Batuman's 'The Possessed'