[Posner] writes faster than you can read. And he's a public
intellectual in the specialized sense he describes and decries in
his book: a "critical commentator addressing a nonspecialist
audience on matters of broad public concern."..Judge Posner's main
argument is that "public intellectuals are often careless with
facts and rash in prediction." They lack, moreover, "insight and
distinction, the filling of some gap in intellectual
space."..Posner's writing is indeed limpid and muscular, but it's
grounded (the celebrity-intellectuals tables notwithstanding) in
substantial evidence carefully marshaled into showy and sometimes
pedantic footnotes. His conclusions follow from his fully
disclosed, if controversial, analytical methodology.--Adam
Liptak"New York Observer" (01/07/2002)
In "Public Intellectuals" Posner turns his poison pen on scores of
public intellectuals, including the likes of Noam Chomsky, Edward
Luttwak, and Paul Ehrlich, those "talking heads" who disseminate
their thoughts to the wider public on issues of political and
ideologically import. Of particular interest are environmental
decay, the darker side of realpolitik, the Monica Lewinsky scandal,
former President Bill Clinton's impeachment, and the deadlocked
2000 presidential election. Through the application of market
economics and statistical analysis, Posner first identifies the
seemingly endless supply of and demand for public intellectuals to
pontificate on these matters and their various genres...He also
highlights the fact that market discipline is sorely
lacking...[Posner's] marshaling of arguments, combined with his
copious footnotes and extensive source material, makes for an
engaging and thought-provoking read.--Peter McKenna"Christian
Science Monitor" (01/24/2002)
In "Public Intellectuals"...Posner trashes fellow smarties who
expound on public issues outside their expertise. He says they
abandon rigor when they write general interest books and op-ed
pieces, publish open letters, and speak on television. They are in
decline, he says, because more of them than ever have safe jobs as
professors, protecting them from the consequences of bad
predictions and stupid proclamations...Posner fires both left and
right, nearly always hitting the mark.--Peter Coy"Business Week"
(02/11/2002)
It is an intense and often angry book, a high-spirited, richly
provocative moral diatribe against trivialization of the national
culture...This is an intense and studious book--brilliant with
energy, commitment and proper zeal...Posner's mind is so acute and
often so surgically ironic that his prose can be
delightful.--Michael Pakenham"Baltimore Sun" (12/29/2001)
Posner is, despite it all, a marvel. He is hyperactive like Harold
Bloom, audacious like Christopher Hitchens and a practical man of
the world like Alan Greenspan. About how many Americans can that be
said? So he deserves attention no matter how infuriating he can be.
Moreover, he charges gaily into the fray, voraciously aware of his
own superiority.--David Brooks"New York Times Book Review"
(01/13/2002)
Richard Posner is a polymath, a one-man think tank, the grown-up
version of the kid who always sat in the front row and knew the
answer to the teacher's questions...The latest of his countless
books is an occasionally insightful, often maddening effort to kill
off all rival claimants to the throne.--Gary Rose"Wall Street
Journal" (09/30/2001)
The marketplace in ideas is no mere phrase to Mr. Posner, an
alarmingly prolific federal judge, author and scholar who has
decided that the traffic in opinions can be usefully described in
economic terms, with numerical values assigned to dozens of
opinion-mongers who offer their wares in the great media bazaar.
The book has been catnip to journalists and intellectual
scorekeepers, who have been bickering over the standings for weeks.
The ups and downs of American intellectuals, especially the New
York variety, fascinates the more bookish part of the population in
the same way that college football rankings or Baseball Hall of
Fame elections mesmerize sports fans.--William Grimes"New York
Times" (01/19/2002)
In "Public Intellectuals,.".Posner trashes fellow smarties who
expound on public issues outside their expertise. He says they
abandon rigor when they write general interest books and op-ed
pieces, publish open letters, and speak on television. They are in
decline, he says, because more of them than ever have safe jobs as
professors, protecting them from the consequences of bad
predictions and stupid proclamations...Posner fires both left and
right, nearly always hitting the mark. -- Peter Coy "Business Week"
(02/11/2002)
and downs of American intellectuals, especially the New York
variety, fascinates the more bookish part of the population in the
same way that college football rankings or Baseball Hall of Fame
elections mesmerize sports fans.
deserves attention no matter how infuriating he can be. Moreover,
he charges gaily into the fray, voraciously aware of his own
superiority.
disclosed, if controversial, analytical methodology.
for an engaging and thought-provoking read.
occasionally insightful, often maddening effort to kill off all
rival claimants to the throne.
proclamations...Posner fires both left and right, nearly always
hitting the mark.
proper zeal...Posner's mind is so acute and often so surgically
ironic that his prose can be delightful.
ÝPosner¨ writes faster than you can read. And he's a public
intellectual in the specialized sense he describes and decries in
his book: a "critical commentator addressing a nonspecialist
audience on matters of broad public concern..."Judge Posner's main
argument is that "public intellectuals are often careless with
facts and rash in prediction." They lack, moreover, "insight and
distinction, the filling of some gap in intellectual
space..."Posner's writing is indeed limpid and muscular, but it's
grounded (the celebrity-intellectuals tables notwithstanding) in
substantial evidence carefully marshaled into showy and sometimes
pedantic footnotes. His conclusions follow from his fully
disclosed, if controversial, analytical methodology. -- Adam Liptak
"New York Observer" (01/07/2002)
In "Public Intellectuals..".Posner trashes fellow smarties who
expound on public issues outside their expertise. He says they
abandon rigor when they write general interest books and op-ed
pieces, publish open letters, and speak on television. They are in
decline, he says, because more of them than ever have safe jobs as
professors, protecting them from the consequences of bad
predictions and stupid proclamations...Posner fires both left and
right, nearly always hitting the mark. -- Peter Coy "Business Week"
(02/11/2002)
In "Public Intellectuals Posner turns his poison pen on scores of
public intellectuals, including the likes of Noam Chomsky, Edward
Luttwak, and Paul Ehrlich, those "talking heads" who disseminate
their thoughts to the wider public on issues of political and
ideologically import. Of particular interest are environmental
decay, the darker side of realpolitik, the Monica Lewinsky scandal,
former President Bill Clinton's impeachment, and the deadlocked
2000 presidential election. Through the application of market
economics and statistical analysis, Posner first identifies the
seemingly endless supply of and demand for public intellectuals to
pontificate on these matters and their various genres...He also
highlights the fact that market discipline is sorely
lacking...[Posner's] marshaling of arguments, combined with his
copious footnotes and extensive source material, makes for an
engaging and thought-provoking read.
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