The intellectuals and the flag / Todd Gitlin.

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Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries From Orlando Furioso (1532), by Ludovico Ariosto (1474--1533) ""Elegy for a Lady Fallen for Another Lady'' (1573), by Pontus de Tyard (1521--1605) From The Journal of Montaigne's Travels in Italy by Way of Switzerland and Germany (1581), by Michel de Montaigne (1533--1592) ""Memorable Stories about Women Who Have Degenerated into Men'' (1573), by Ambroise Par  (1510?--1590) ""Poem XLIX'' from The Maitland Quarto Manuscript (1586), by Anonymous From The Countess of Pembr

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CHOICE Review

Gitlin (Columbia Univ.) is a prominent US leftist who has become increasingly critical of what he sometimes refers to as the "fundamentalist" contemporary left, which, in his view, has virtually "committed suicide" by withdrawing from the real world of political and social issues into academic theorizing and irrelevance. This slender book consists of six essays, mostly published over the past decade, to which the title piece, largely inspired by 9/11, has been added. Two essays specifically critique postmodern and cultural studies theory. Three others examine individuals--David Riesman, C. Wright Mills, and Irving Howe--whom Gitlin offers as models of influential public intellectuals. The concluding essay argues that knee-jerk negativism, lack of positive vision, and marginalization from the mainstream of US society has become especially problematic for the left in the aftermath of 9/11. Gitlin is certainly a thoughtful, intelligent, and important critic. Intellectuals on the left will find provocative food for thought in this work. But there is not much new here, and overall, the book lacks the depth, length, and clear, sharp focus necessary for a serious re-visioning of left theory and practice. Another Sociological Imagination (Mills, 1959) or The Lonely Crowd (Riesman, 1950) this isn't. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. General collections, graduate students, faculty. K. Blaser Wayne State College