Imperial Masquerade

Lapham ( Money and Class in America ) sees signs of decadence everywhere, from domestication of the arts through government subsidies to our awe of anything that smacks of ``high tech.'' In this miscellany of 50 Harper's columns and 20 other pieces, the editor of Harper's lashes out at the subservient U.S. press, crippled watchdog of the powers that be, and questions America's assumptions of unlimited virtue and power. He skewers Jimmy Carter, Oliver North, ``competent despot'' Anwar Sadat, Geraldine Ferraro and, above all, ``illusionist'' Ronald Reagan. He critiques the insanity of nuclear arms buildup, the CIA's ``comedy of errors'' abroad, U.S. foreign loans that trap poorer nations in a spiral of debt. Lapham's patrician tone is at odds with his anti-establishment opinions, and one often wishes for a more sustained, thoroughgoing analysis of the issues he raises. (Jan.)