When Henry James wrote, “It’s a complex fate, being an American,” he must have had the subject of Alex Beam’s book in mind. James would have savored its opening scene at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, where on April 15, 1952, a dinner was held by the University of Chicago and the Encyclopedia Britannica to launch “The Great Books of the Western World.” Though Rockefelle (...)
October 09, 2009
Books
Unread White Males
A Great Idea at the TimeThe Rise, Fall, and Curious Afterlife of the Great BooksAlex BeamPublicAffairs, $24.95, 256 pp.
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