... thematically wide-ranging and bottomlessly rewarding ... Deresiewicz's amiable skepticism and not-quite contrarianism aren't so all-consuming that he can't stomach writing the odd homage.
Deresiewicz eviscerates 'groupthink' in this razor-sharp collection made up mostly of previously published pieces ... Deresiewicz is at his most trenchant when analyzing the technological and cultural forces arrayed against his preferred mode of being ... Despite a tendency to generalize and the occasional slip into ungracious embitterment, as when he writes that having a 'white penis' put two strikes against him on the academic job market, Deresiewicz anatomizes modern life with skill and fierce conviction. Readers will relish grappling with these erudite provocations.
... sharp commentaries ... reveals an open-mindedness when it comes to subject matter. The author writes enthusiastically about fiction, dance, TV, and more ... But he also writes with a conservative cantankerousness about what he sees as higher education’s descent into groupthink and younger generations’ rush to embrace it ... He gripes about political correctness, partly in exasperation with its knee-jerk tendencies ... When Deresiewicz, the winner of a National Book Critics Circle award for excellence in reviewing, has a juicy target, it can be surprisingly good fun ... A stronger sense of humor might help some of his assertions go down easier, and he’s capable of it, as in a wry piece about Bernard Malamud, a fellow fish-out-of-water Jew in Oregon. Deresiewicz’s soberness speaks to the intensity of his concern: The humanities are under threat by legislators, technology, and its own practitioners, and he’s a passionate advocate for their dignity ... Sometimes cranky but consistently engaging takes on cultural corrosion and collapse.
