Dumbing Down: Essays on the Strip Mining of American Culture

Katharine Washburn, Editor, John Thornton, Editor W. W. Norton & Company $25 (0p) ISBN 978-0-393-03829-3

It is a tribute to this engaging, cranky collection that critic Simon's introduction registers disagreement with the essays defining rock and roll and calling for more orthodox forms of religion. Among the essayists, David Slavitt laments that university students are now ""more socially ambitious than intellectually curious,"" Robert Park condemns our acceptance of scientific illiteracy and Heather McDonald deconstructs the declining standards in the teaching of remedial writing. George Kennan reminds us that we need ""an elite of service to others."" Some essays--on psychiatry or sex or the social sciences--offer too-limited takes on broad topics. But this book, thankfully, has no neat ideological wrapper: James Twitchell reminds us of the ubiquitous influence of advertising, while Carole Rifkind describes how the mall compromises public space. Literary critic Sven Birkerts worries that the computer and the Internet may become our new deity: his fear may be exaggerated, but his solution--real engagement with books and ideas--is surely worth adopting. Thornton is a literary agent; Washburn is a freelance editor. (June)

Reviewed on: 06/03/1996

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Paperback - 336 pages - 978-0-393-31723-7