Masscult and Midcult

Essays Against the American Grain

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Cultural Studies, Popular Culture, Fiction & Literature, Essays & Letters, Essays
Cover of the book Masscult and Midcult by Dwight Macdonald, New York Review Books
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Author: Dwight Macdonald ISBN: 9781590174685
Publisher: New York Review Books Publication: October 11, 2011
Imprint: NYRB Classics Language: English
Author: Dwight Macdonald
ISBN: 9781590174685
Publisher: New York Review Books
Publication: October 11, 2011
Imprint: NYRB Classics
Language: English

A New York Review Books Original

An uncompromising contrarian, a passionate polemicist, a man of quick wit and wide learning, an anarchist, a pacifist, and a virtuoso of the slashing phrase, Dwight Macdonald was an indefatigable and indomitable critic of America’s susceptibility to well-meaning cultural fakery: all those estimable, eminent, prizewinning works of art that are said to be good and good for you and are not. He dubbed this phenomenon “Midcult” and he attacked it not only on aesthetic but on political grounds. Midcult rendered people complacent and compliant, secure in their common stupidity but neither happy nor free.

This new selection of Macdonald’s finest essays, assembled by John Summers, the editor of The Baffler, reintroduces a remarkable American critic and writer. In the era of smart, sexy, and everything indie, Macdonald remains as pertinent and challenging as ever.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

A New York Review Books Original

An uncompromising contrarian, a passionate polemicist, a man of quick wit and wide learning, an anarchist, a pacifist, and a virtuoso of the slashing phrase, Dwight Macdonald was an indefatigable and indomitable critic of America’s susceptibility to well-meaning cultural fakery: all those estimable, eminent, prizewinning works of art that are said to be good and good for you and are not. He dubbed this phenomenon “Midcult” and he attacked it not only on aesthetic but on political grounds. Midcult rendered people complacent and compliant, secure in their common stupidity but neither happy nor free.

This new selection of Macdonald’s finest essays, assembled by John Summers, the editor of The Baffler, reintroduces a remarkable American critic and writer. In the era of smart, sexy, and everything indie, Macdonald remains as pertinent and challenging as ever.

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