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  Praise for

  Wind Sprints: Shorter Essays

  “The 143 essays in Epstein’s entertaining new collection . . .are compulsively readable. . . .Epstein shows himself capable of writing engagingly at that brief length on just about any topic that strikes his fancy. . . .The essays are peppered with personal memories and quotes from literature and punctuated with bursts of humor—Epstein likens a bandleader’s bellow to that ‘of a man who has just been pushed off a cliff’—and they abound with pleasures that belie their brevity.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “A master of the essay form returns with a collection of brief pieces spanning nearly 20 years. . . . Another subtitle might have been Healthful Snacks, for these bite-size pieces are both enjoyable to ingest and good for you.”

  —Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

  “This collection is the perfect introduction to the erudite and entertaining work of a prolific essayist. . . .Noted writer Joseph Epstein offers a smorgasbord of wit in the collection Wind Sprints: Shorter Essays.”

  —Peter Dabbene, ForeWord Reviews

  “Epstein (emeritus lecturer of English, Northwestern Univ.), a frequent contributor to the Wall Street Journal, Commentary, and the Weekly Standard, is acclaimed for his witty, perceptive, and occasionally contentious essays, which he began during his editorship (1974–97) of American Scholar.”

  —Lonnie Weatherby, Library Journal

  “In the 143 short essays, Epstein discusses his reading habits, language snobbery, his love of khakis and good ol’ fashioned shoe shines, the need for a word to describe someone who is more than an acquaintance but less than a friend, the rise of hot dog prices, and the demise of the high five. . . .Generally acknowledged as one of America’s foremost essayists, Epstein’s short pieces are delightful and infuriating, endearing and aggravating.”

  —Sean West, San Francisco Book Review

  “I am purring, chortling and cursing my way through [Wind Sprints]. Cursing, because [the] wit, . . . erudition, . . . élan, panache, and . . . je ne sais quoi is just too depressing. There’s treasure in every sentence. It’s like spoon-eating caviar. I may have a stroke, but what a way to go.”

  —Christopher Buckley, author of Thank You for Smoking

  “It has long been implausible to argue that there’s a more engaging essayist on the planet than Epstein. . . .There are 143 pieces in Wind Sprints, with almost no repetition of subject. Perhaps because of the length of these pieces, Epstein takes on fewer literary questions and deals with more small, quotidian matters, though in ways to demonstrate that almost anything can be dealt with intelligently, and in an entertaining way.”

  —Larry Thornberry, the American Spectator

  “In Wind Sprints, his latest collection of essays, Joseph Epstein confesses to literary tippling—sampling bits of prose while in the supermarket line, during television commercials, or even in traffic. . . .He excels at lively, instructive, and often funny essays that sometimes run to 10,000 words. The only complication in starting them is that they’re so charming and chatty that one cannot easily put them down. A reader who begins an Epstein piece behind the wheel is likely to be stalled on the freeway for a very long time.”

  —Danny Heitman, the Christian Science Monitor

  “Witty, common-sensical, civilized, reliably pleasure-giving, Epstein is solace.”

  —Patrick Kurp, Anecdotal Evidence

  Praise for

  A Literary Education and Other Essays

  “Epstein follows up Essays in Biography (2012) with another collection of provocative and beguiling thought pieces. The range of his curiosity is exhilarating.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “[In A Literary Education] prolific essayist, biographer, and novelist Epstein . . . delivers . . . lots of erudition . . . and . . . fun.”

  —Kirkus Reviews

  “Erudite, penetrating, and decisive . . . Epstein’s delivery is filled with thorough analysis, delightful allusions, and outright laughs. . . .”

  —Peter Dabbene, ForeWord Reviews

  “Maybe it’s time for a ‘Joseph Epstein Reader’ that would assemble the best work from his previous books for old and new fans alike. In the meantime, A Literary Education inspires hope that Mr. Epstein’s good run [referring to the author’s 24 books] isn’t over just yet.”

  —Danny Heitman, Wall Street Journal

  “[This is a] wonderful book of summer reading that’s [also] . . . good for the cold, gray days ahead. . . . [Epstein is] a man of his time and above his time. . . .”

  —Suzanne Fields, Washington Times

  “Joseph Epstein turns out the best essays—of the literary or familiar kind—of any writer on active duty today. . . . Those who’ve reviewed Epstein’s work over the years . . . praise his humor, his erudition, his vast learning, and his elegance. . . . Epstein’s writing, like most French desserts, is very rich stuff.”

  —Larry Thornberry, American Spectator

  “Epstein’s . . . A Literary Education and Other Essays . . . is his 24th book. This volume confirms that Epstein is not only the greatest living American literary critic, but also the country’s foremost general essayist. He is, almost singlehandedly, holding aloft the flame for what used to be the honorable calling of ‘the man of letters.’”

  —John Podhoretz, Commentary

  “[Epstein] writes sentences you want to remember. . . . His essays are troves of literary reference and allusion, maps between centuries, countries, genres. . . . [They] have personality and style, yes, but they also have something to say, and that’s the pivotal distinction between Epstein and his bevy of imitators. . . . What’s more, his wit is unkillable. . . .”

  —William Giraldi, New Criterion

  “Epstein is an essayist of the old school—learned, productive, and available to many occasions. A man gifted with a wit both cutting and self-deprecating, and an easy command of the many syntactic variations of the periodic sentence, he also has a fearless willingness to assert a view—and this, as any reader of the essay knows, is the drive wheel of the whole business, never mind if that view is widely shared or unpopular.”

  — Sven Birkerts, Los Angeles Review of Books

  Praise for

  Essays in Biography

  “Erudite . . . eloquent . . . opinionated . . . edifying and often very entertaining.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “The acclaimed essayist . . . presents a provocative collection of essays that [is] . . . guaranteed to both delight and disconcert.”

  —Kirkus Reviews

  “[He] brings to biography a genius of discernment.”

  —Choice

  “Mr. Epstein’s essays are brilliant distillations. . . . ”

  —Carl Rollyson, Wall Street Journal

  “Essays in Biography . . . is smart, witty and a pleasure to read.”

  —Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post

  “This . . . collection of biographical essays . . . [is] unabashedly personal, and flavored throughout by a wit that never stays in the background for long. [What Epstein calls a] ‘heightened sense of life’s possibilities’ is . . . what a reader may take away.”

  —Boston Globe

  “Joseph Epstein[’s] . . . style and wit make his subjects come alive. . . . [He is] the dean of contemporary essayists.”

  —Washington Times

  “Epstein is a gifted storyteller, a discerning critic, and a peerless stylist. . . . It’s fair to say that a variety of over-used adjectives—witty, urbane, intelligent—are in this case quite appropriate.”


  —Weekly Standard

  “[Joseph Epstein is] one of the few living writers whose every book I try to read promptly. He is never—really never—less than a pure thoughtful joy.”

  —Brian Doherty, Senior Editor, Reason

  “Epstein writes suave, free-wheeling, charged essays.”

  —Robert Fulford, National Post

  “[Joseph Epstein’s] personal mission statement, apparently, is to instruct and delight. . . . This is a book you can pick up and skip around in with pleasure and profit.”

  —Christopher Flannery, Claremont Review of Books

  Also by Joseph Epstein

  Where Were We?: The Conversation Continues, with Frederic Raphael (2017)

  Wind Sprints: Shorter Essays (2016)

  Frozen in Time (2016)

  Masters of the Games: Essays and Stories on Sport (2015)

  A Literary Education and Other Essays (2014)

  Distant Intimacy: A Friendship in the Age of the Internet, with Frederic Raphael (2013)

  Essays in Biography (2012)

  Gossip: The Untrivial Pursuit (2011)

  The Love Song of A. Jerome Minkoff: And Other Stories (2010)

  Fred Astaire (2008)

  In a Cardboard Belt!: Essays Personal, Literary, and Savage (2007)

  Friendship: An Exposé (2006)

  Alexis de Tocqueville: Democracy’s Guide (2006)

  Fabulous Small Jews (2003)

  Envy (2003)

  Snobbery: The American Version (2002)

  Narcissus Leaves the Pool: Familiar Essays (1999)

  Life Sentences: Literary Essays (1997)

  With My Trousers Rolled: Familiar Essays (1995)

  Pertinent Players: Essays on the Literary Life (1993)

  A Line Out for a Walk: Familiar Essays (1991)

  The Goldin Boys: Stories (1991)

  Partial Payments: Essays on Writers and Their Lives (1988)

  Once More Around the Block: Familiar Essays (1987)

  Plausible Prejudices: Essays on American Writing (1985)

  Middle of My Tether: Familiar Essays (1983)

  Ambition: The Secret Passion (1980)

  Familiar Territory: Observations on American Life (1979)

  Divorced in America: Marriage in an Age of Possibility (1974)

  The essays in this book were previously published in journals and anthologies. Original publication information can be found on page 541.

  Axios Press

  PO Box 457

  Edinburg, VA 22824

  888.542.9467

  [email protected]

  The Ideal of Culture: Essays © 2018 by Joseph Epstein. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations used in critical articles and reviews.

  Ebook ISBN: 978-1-60419-124-0

  Table of Contents

  Introduction

  Part One: The Culture The Ideal of Culture

  From Parent to Parenthood

  Death Takes No Holiday

  Wit

  Genius

  Cowardice

  Old Age and Other Laughs

  What’s So Funny?

  The Fall of the WASPs

  The Virtue of Victims

  Cool

  The Sixties

  University of Chicago Days

  Part Two: Literary Eric Auerbach

  Kafka

  Orwell

  Proust

  C. K. Scott Moncrieff

  The Young T. S. Eliot

  Philip Larkin

  Willa Cather

  George Kennan

  Isaiah Berlin

  Michael Oakeshott

  John O’Hara

  F. Scott Fitzgerald, A Most Successful Failure

  Wolcott Gibbs

  Evelyn Waugh

  J. F. Powers

  Edward Gibbon

  Herodotus

  Tacitus

  Encyclopaedia Britannica—The Eleventh

  Grammar

  Clichés

  Literary Rivals

  Why Read Biography?

  Part Three: Jewish Sholem Aleichem

  Jokes: A Genre of Thought

  Jews on the Loose

  Jewish Pugs

  Harry Golden

  Gershom Scholem

  Dreaming of a JewishChristmas

  Part Four: Masterpieces The Brothers Ashkenzai

  Civilization of the Renaissance

  Montesquieu

  Machiavelli

  Gogol

  Speak, Memory

  Epictetus

  H. W. Fowler

  As a Driven Leaf

  Joseph and His Brothers

  Life and Fate

  Memoirs of Hadrian

  Charnwood’s Lincoln

  Book of the Courtier

  Ronald Syme

  Quest for Corvo

  The Old Bunch

  Life of Johnson

  Part Five: Hitting Eighty Hitting Eighty

  Original Publication Information for Essays in this Book

  Index

  No page is more welcome to the Muses than that which knows how to combine grave and gay, and to refresh the weary mind with helpful trifles.

  —Samuel Johnson

  Of all the ways of acquiring books, the one considered most reputable is to write them.

  —Walter Benjamin

  Introduction

  My friend Edward Shils held that there are four institutions of learning in modern societies. These are the classroom, serious magazines and newspapers, the conversation of intelligent friends, and new and especially used bookstores. I would add a fifth, though it is not open to everyone: writing for the public. I don’t recall when I first heard the phrase, applied to writers, “getting one’s education in public,” or who originated it, but I have come to think it applies to me, a writer who did not come to the task of literary composition especially well equipped but, so to say, learned on the job. But then maybe all writers are essentially interns, perpetually on what was once called OJT, or on the job training.

  An example: I was perhaps thirty-years old when I received a call from the editor Eve Auchincloss, at Book World, asking if I would like to review a new edition in four volumes of My Past and Thoughts, the memoirs of Alexander Herzen. After hesitating perhaps a nanosecond, I said, “Yes, I would.” Eve prescribed the length of review wanted and said that the books would be in the mail. I thanked her, hung up, and asked myself, “Who is Alexander Herzen?” I subsequently read the four magnificent volumes of this great nineteenth-century Russian writer, read about him in books by Isaiah Berlin, E. H. Carr, and others, wrote my 1,500 or so words, and became perhaps a touch, if not smarter, more knowledgeable about things it is necessary for a person with intellectual pretensions to know.

  So it has been for me over the past decades, widening my knowledge by fresh readings, and deepening it, as I like to think, by writing about them. For the act of writing is itself an act of education, perhaps even before it can be considered anything so grand as an act of creation. The way this works is that, at the outset, writing forces the writer to realize what he doesn’t know.

  Over the years, I have agreed to write about certain subjects in full confidence that I could do so interestingly. Only when I began tapping out my first paragraph did I often come to realize that my thoughts did not extend beyond the drabbest clichés. Since I prefer to think I have a strong revulsion for cliché, and a matching one for boredom, I find I must discover a new and interesting way to write about the subject. It is only in making the attempt to do so that I often come to realize that I knew things I didn’t realize I knew. “How do I know what I think until I see what I say,” an aphorism attributed to E. M. Forster, has long been, if not my mantra, then my motto.<
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  For me a good part of the joy in writing—whether it be writing essays or short stories—is in this element of self-discovery. I am not saying here that writing is a form of therapy, that what I discover is myself. Not at all. What I am saying is that writing is a method of general discovery. The probes, the telescope and microscope used in this discovery is the English sentence. Its syntax juggled, precise words found, everything set in place, the English sentence can yield mysterious secrets. Or so I have learned.

  Writing, like hanging the next morning for Dr. Johnson, tends to concentrate the mind. Having to write about a book or an idea is different from simply reading or thinking in general. Writing requires herding the wild cats of stray observations and inchoate notions, and forces the organization of one’s thought, at least to the point where it is presentable for public inspection. I know some writers who are incapable of concentrated thinking without a pen in hand or a computer keyboard under their fingers. I happen to be one of them.

  And so I beat on, like the man said, “boats against the current,” continuing to attempt to further my education in public. I have been fortunate to have a small number of American and English editors abet me in the attempt, by finding things for me to write about or by agreeing to print things I have written and sent to them without their suggestion. As I look over the table of contents of The Ideal of Culture, I am mildly amused at the range of my interests, which run from Tacitus to Jewish boxers, from the concept of Cool to that of Cowardice, from Machiavelli to the Marx Brothers. Faith and begorrah, I seem to have got away with it.

  A note of acknowledgement: I wish to thank John Podhoretz of Commentary, Philip Terzian of the Weekly Standard, John Kienker of the Claremont Review of Books, Abe Socher of the Jewish Review of Books, and Robert Messenger, David Propson, and Eric Gibson of the Wall Street Journal. I should also like to thank that unknown soul who invented the section of the weekend Wall Street Journal called “Masterpiece,” in which unknown or forgotten or misunderstood works of literary, architectural, visual art, or music are remembered and revived, however briefly, in relatively short articles. Whoever that person is, he or she has provided me with the opportunity to revisit many of the great works that comprise the Masterpiece section of this book. Finally, a word of thanks to Jody Banks, my patient and thoughtful editor at Axios Press, and to Hunter Lewis, publisher of Axios Press, for encouraging me to persist.