2,653 words
Paul Fussell
Class: A Guide Through the American Class System
New York: Summit Books, 1983 (first edition; many since)
Written in 1980-82 and published in 1983, Paul Fussell’s Class: A Guide Through the American Status System is one of those rare books that most literate people seem to have heard of, say they want to read if they haven’t, and have fierce opinions about whether they’ve read it or not. I see this last aspect frequently on social media. (more…)
580 words
Translated by Riki Rei.
To the members of Tatenokai [Shield Society]:
Among you there are both those who have stayed with us consistently since the founding of our organization and those of the fifth class who have been with us for only nine months. Yet as far as I’m concerned, regardless of the degrees of your involvement and experience, we are all comrades of a shared identity who have gone beyond the difference of ages (more…)
2,576 words
Anita Bryant
The Anita Bryant Story: The Survival of our Nation’s Families and the Threat of Militant Homosexuality
Old Tappan, New Jersey: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1977
The culture wars of the 1970s deserve considerable study. One of the cultural warriors was Anita Bryant. When I saw a used copy of her book denouncing the militant homosexual movement, I snatched it up immediately. (more…)
1,344 words
Déjà Vu, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young’s first recording as a quartet, was released on this day, March 11th, in 1970. It was greeted with a mixed reception by critics at the time of its release, but has since come to be included in innumerable “best of” lists and is frequently cited as the best work of the group. Taken as a whole, Déjà Vu displays impressive attention to detail and warm, friendly tone, but similarly lacks (more…)
705 words
King Crimson’s “Cat Food” was originally released in 1970. It’s a chaotic, piano-centric slice of pop fun that helped cement King Crimson’s image in the eyes of the public as being capable of more than dreary ruminations on dying or losing your mind, as their highly-acclaimed 1969 album In the Court of the Crimson King mostly focused on. (more…)