Wild Orchids and Trotsky: Messages from American Universities
This collection of autobiographical essays, written by those whom Roger Kimball calls "tenured radicals" ( Tenured Radicals , LJ 4/1/90), attempts to open lines of communication regarding the new liberal arts education. The 11 articles and two interviews (with Edward Said and Harold Bloom) represent a group of prominent writers of the new PC (politically correct) humanities departments, which are (according to the authors) maligned by conservatives such as Dinesh D'Souza ( Illiberal Education , LJ 3/15/91), David Lehman ( Signs of the Times , LJ 3/1/91), and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Instead of discussing the decline of humane learning owing to the advance of multicultural studies, feminism, deconstruction, or other ills, the authors explain that a new humanism is emerging as an international doctrine without boundaries by nations or other groupings. This is an interesting compilation of personal testimonies on a controversial subject. The lead article alone, by Richard Rorty, makes this a worthy addition to humanities collections.- Arla Lindgren, St. John's Univ., New YorkCopyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.