Description: The book is a sensitive and nuanced examination of a towering intellectual figure on the American scene. It is organized into sections corresponding to Glazer's wide ranging interests: ethnicity, race, social policy and urbanism, and architecture.
Brief description:
Joseph Dorman is a documentary filmmaker whose works include Arguing the World (and a subsequent book of the same title) about Nathan Glazer, Daniel Bell, Irving Kristol, and Irving Howe.
Review Quotes:
-For well over half a century, Nathan Glazer has been among the keenest observers of American life. At once an enemy of elite complacence and populist blather, he has marched directly into some of the most divisive controversies of our time and managed again and again to transform their heat into light. This superb collection of some of his greatest essays offers an example of what a perceptive social critic can achieve if he is willing to be honest.-
--Yuval Levin, editor of National Affairs
-Among American intellectuals, Nathan Glazer is a prince. He has broken new ground, made new trouble, in every subject he has touched, and he has touched virtually all the important subjects of his time. His mind is uncannily independent, always humane, as curious as it is rigorous, and beyond all labels and slogans. He knows how to be controversial and calm, withering and wise. His career--vividly on view in this rich and significant volume--is an irresistible advertisement for a life in ideas.-
--Leon Wieseltier