Lives of the Mind: The Use and Abuse of Intelligence from Hegel to Wodehouse

(Paperback)

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Description

Mr. Kimball, one of the best of our cultural critics, offers a lively and penetrating study of geniusand pseudo-geniusat work, and investigates the use and abuse of intelligence. Drawing on figures as various as Plutarch and Hegel, Kierkegaard and P.G. Wodehouse, Elias Canetti and Anthony Trollope, he provides a sharply observed tour of Western intellectual and artistic aspiration. A master of the genre, as collections of his pieces attest, none more impressively than this set. Booklist Starred Review

Reviews

Lives of the Mind is a work of generous humanity. * The Weekly Standard *
Kimball does a very good job of integrating the lives of his subjects with the development of their ideas. * Choice Reviews *
[Kimball] writes with verve and can unpack complex arguments and make them luminously clear.His workis criticism at its best. * New York Sun *
We rely on the true critic to cultivate our intelligence, refine our tastes, and show us the way to higher pleasures. Roger Kimball is just such a critic. -- Mark Miller * The Wall Street Journal *
Anyone interested in language, thought, and their sociocultural embeddness will find this a both dynamic and practical book. * Virginia Quarterly *
Kimballsessays make for bracing and satisfying reading. -- Virgil Nemoianu * Review of Metaphysics *
Rich and accessible essays.... Kimball writes with verve... * Sewanee Review *

Author Bio

Roger Kimball is managing editor of the New Criterion and an art critic for the London Spectator. His other books include Art's Prospect, Experiments Against Reality, The Long March, and Tenured Radicals. He lives in South Norwalk, Connecticut.