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Title: Bad Or, the Dumbing of America by Paul Fussell ISBN: 0-671-79228-8 Publisher: Touchstone Books Pub. Date: October, 1992 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 2.77 (13 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Bad but not BAD
Comment: Morris Berman makes reference to Fussell's BAD, or the Dumbing of America in his treatise for monastic preservation of our culture, The Twilight of American Culture. I was inspired by Berman's text and so sought out Fussell's. It's been a long time since I heard Dennis Miller or George Carlin "rant," but Fussell's book reminded me of a pretentious version of their work. Not that he didn't make me laugh aloud several times in recognition of the foibles that make our society tick. It's just that in the wake of reading Berman's book, I had expected a more penetrating treatment of a very real problem: the calcification of the idea of our culture sans the content. (courtesy of Spengler)
Rating: 4
Summary: Should be Required Reading in High School
Comment: For me, this book had one especially redeeming quality among its many - No longer could I consider myself the grouchiest grouch on the planet.
By cutting through our phony pomposity and inability to recognize quality, Fussell exposes our us as a nation of shallow, self-congratulating losers who believe that it is alright to delude ourselves into believing we are something we are not. Specifically, deep thinking, conscientious citizens.
To take something that is merely bad, and by promotion and hyperbole, convince the public that it is not bad, but good and even better than all the rest - we then achieve BAD. From movies to books to ideas to ostentatious restaurants and all the rest. Personally, I loved his skewering rant of the soapy Andrew Lloyd Webber, who, along with Mickey Mouse are my personal poster twins for the Dumbing of America. And if Fussell ridiculed the elections of Ronald Regan and George H. Bush, one can only wonder what the temperment of the book might be if it were being written today.
Since this book was published, much more BAD has crept into our lives. From overbearing and attention needing cell phone abusers to major market quick read newspapers that make USA Today seem almost journalstic, our addiction to BAD behavior and kitsch make us considerably more transparent than we were when the book was published in 1991.
I have enjoyed some of the reader comments in this section. Especially the comments from those who are offended by the fact that Fussell has challenged the ideas with which they have been branded. Their offense comes not at the fact that their institutions have been attacked, but that they have been duped into believing that these very institutions were necessary, important and relevent.
On the downside, the book ended simply as a criticism, without relief. Unlike Steve Allen's "Dumbth," where dozens of suggestions for improvement are offered from one of the most thoughful minds of the century, B.A.D. sheds precious little light in the direction of redemption. The book could have used a few more chapters pointing the way. Nonetheless, I highly recommend this book to parents, teachers, students and to anyone in our society who believes that a college degree is a synonym for education, or that walking around the mall is the epitomy of cultural achievement.
Rating: 1
Summary: Author As BADly Pretentious And False As His Targets
Comment: I hope no one spends money on this useless rant. Any sane person is left wondering what the hell this author DOES like? I agree that bad sitcoms and People magazine are trashy, but this guy knocks everything! He seems to speak against British pretentiousness, but enjoys sabbaticals in pricey London. He was well-off enough to attend posh universities, all the while knocking the lower-priced ones. He slams the lower and middle classes, while pretending to be "above classism." Not a page goes by where he doesn't insult Reagan. This snob even hates graduation ceremonies, university logos, the flag, and the bicentennial back in '76. The piece de resistance (he DOES love French snobbery) is when he blames the US Navy for Lockerbie. What DOES this clown like? Oh, check out the photo in back. Aren't ugly toupees and shoes without socks BAD?
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Title: CLASS : A GUIDE THROUGH THE AMERICAN STATUS SYSTEM by Paul Fussell ISBN: 0671792253 Publisher: Touchstone Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 1992 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: Dumbing Down: Essays on the Strip Mining of American Culture by Katharine Washburn, John F. Thornton, John Simon ISBN: 0393317234 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: November, 1997 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: Uniforms: Why We Are What We Wear by Paul Fussell ISBN: 0618067469 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co Pub. Date: 12 November, 2002 List Price(USD): $22.00 |
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Title: Doing Battle : The Making of a Skeptic by Paul Fussell ISBN: 0316290610 Publisher: Back Bay Books Pub. Date: 07 January, 1998 List Price(USD): $17.99 |
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Title: The Twilight of American Culture by Morris Berman ISBN: 039332169X Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: June, 2001 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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