'Cultural Amnesia' by Clive James

'Cultural Amnesia' by Clive James - Los Angeles Times:

"In 'Cultural Amnesia,' the prodigious critic Clive James succumbs to a mighty ambition: In 100-plus alphabetically arranged essays, he pays homage to the vast western humanist enterprise (writing, filmmaking, music, philosophy, theater), defending it from myriad enemies. I don't fault his intelligence or erudition: This Australian omnivore has read, traveled and thought more than perhaps any critic alive. An eclectic master of the high/low, he writes on German metaphysics as fluently as on TV sitcoms (he's a former TV critic and sometime broadcaster), swiveling from poetry to novels to history with authority and conviction."