The World Turned Inside Out: American Thought and Culture at the End of the 20th Century
It says a great deal about how history will judge late-twentieth-century America when scholars can find the infantile musings of South Park cartoon characters equally as relevant as the intricate monetary theories of Keynesian economists or the geopolitical ramifications of globalization. From 1975 onward, the end of the twentieth century was as chaotic a time as our country has ever experienced. In the penultimate book in Lewis Perry and Howard Brick’s series on American Thought and Culture, Livingston interprets our modern experience through multifaceted lenses. Movies, music, and television measure class warfare and gender inequities as accurately as they do popular pastimes and creative verve. The military-industrial complex is likewise scrutinized in the wake of anonymous terrorism and preventive warfare; and the lines between Left and Right, liberal and conservative, are blurred in feminist thought, academic hierarchy, and religious practice. Throughout, Livingston presents a stunning display of scholarly discourse, drawing provocative conclusions about where America has been and where it might be going. --Carol Haggas