Rating: 
Summary: An Unintentionally Revealing Book
Review: There are some books that unintentionally reveal the author to be less than what he purports to be. The Norman Podhoretz Reader is one such book. Norman Podhoretz pretends to be a sophisticated thinker, however the essays in this book reveal him to be a fairly simplistic person, at least as far as politics are concerned.For instance, Podhoretz maintains that any and all criticism of Israel is motivated by anti-semitism. Also, he holds that criticism of the U.S. involvement in Vietnam is motivated by anti-Americanism. In other words, if you disagree with Podhoretz on the vital issues of the day, then you must have ulterior motives for doing so. Folks, this is comic book thinking. I give this book 2 stars only because there are a number of interesting essays concerning some of Podhoretz's literary contemporaries such as Norman Mailer and Philip Roth. It is literary criticism, not political pontificating where Podhoretz's true strengths lie and unfortunately, Podhoretz's intellectual energies during the past 25 years or so have been almost entirely consumed by politics.
Rating:
Summary: An Unintentionally Revealing Book
Review: There are some books that unintentionally reveal the author to be less than what he purports to be. The Norman Podhoretz Reader is one such book. Norman Podhoretz pretends to be a sophisticated thinker, however the essays in this book reveal him to be a fairly simplistic person, at least as far as politics are concerned. For instance, Podhoretz maintains that any and all criticism of Israel is motivated by anti-semitism. Also, he holds that criticism of the U.S. involvement in Vietnam is motivated by anti-Americanism. In other words, if you disagree with Podhoretz on the vital issues of the day, then you must have ulterior motives for doing so. Folks, this is comic book thinking. I give this book 2 stars only because there are a number of interesting essays concerning some of Podhoretz's literary contemporaries such as Norman Mailer and Philip Roth. It is literary criticism, not political pontificating where Podhoretz's true strengths lie and unfortunately, Podhoretz's intellectual energies during the past 25 years or so have been almost entirely consumed by politics.
Rating: 
Summary: He Almost Made It
Review: This is a wonderful collection of essays and chapters from Mr. Podhoretz. Mr. Podhoretz is one of the great dissidents of the right whose stance against his `former friends' of the left has earned him a grand reputation and much critique. In this new reader you will find such wonderfully insightful essays as `My Negro Problem-and ours' as well as his views of Hannah Arendt and Eichman where he skewers her opinion that the Jews should have fought harder in WWII by showing that in fact Germany lost the war in order to `finish' the Holocaust. Here you will find the great essays and open letters where Podhoretz declares himself out to his former friends of the left and where he takes on such luminaries as Mr. Ginsberg. A fabulous collection that will be a great addition to any shelf that contains Bloom, Rand, Strauss or Horowitz.
Rating: 
Summary: A wonderful collection
Review: This is a wonderful collection of essays and chapters from Mr. Podhoretz. Mr. Podhoretz is one of the great dissidents of the right whose stance against his 'former friends' of the left has earned him a grand reputation and much critique. In this new reader you will find such wonderfully insightful essays as 'My Negro Problem-and ours' as well as his views of Hannah Arendt and Eichman where he skewers her opinion that the Jews should have fought harder in WWII by showing that in fact Germany lost the war in order to 'finish' the Holocaust. Here you will find the great essays and open letters where Podhoretz declares himself out to his former friends of the left and where he takes on such luminaries as Mr. Ginsberg. A fabulous collection that will be a great addition to any shelf that contains Bloom, Rand, Strauss or Horowitz.
| 
