An unexpectedly moving illustration. The New Criterion
Intelligent, uncommonly perceptive of human affairs and scathingly honest about human folly.Star Journal
"Dalrymple calls them as he sees them, and there is not an ounce of political correctness in him."Seattle Times
"Theodore Dalrymple makes a devastating diagnosis."Globe and Mail
"It's rare for someone to produce a work on social issues that is so readable."Tampa Tribune
"Chilling."Nationally Syndicated Columnist
"Striking. Most collections of essays are lackluster affairs, but Dalrymple's is an exception."The New York Times Book Review
"The manner in which Dalrymple wields his critical scalpel fixes our attention...he makes no promise to fix our condition."Antioch Review
The brutal, penetrating honesty of his thinking and the vividness of his prose make Theodore Dalrymple the George Orwell of our time.editor Arts & Letters Daily
Physician/essayist Dalrymple may describe himself as "an ordinary and respectable son of the English middle classes, with a proper profession," but there is nothing ordinary about him. He has practiced medicine in the far-flung corners of the world and, most recently, among the British underclass. In his latest collection (after Life at the Bottom), he once again proves that he is an astute observer of life: in "The Frivolity of Evil," for example, he notes the replacement of the word unhappy with the word depressed by people who want their too willing doctors to prescribe medication. Divided under the headings "Arts and Letters" and "Society and Politics," the essays also deal with literature, history, and current events; Shakespeare, Virginia Woolf, Stefan Zweig, Karl Marx, Fidel Castro, and Marilyn Manson are among those who dance across the pages. It is Dalrymple's moral courage, however, that shines through the most-not to mention his ability to ask why and how something happened (e.g., the extreme vulgarity of some British art). He even, heaven help him, has the temerity to suggest what one might do to remedy society's evils. Compelling reading; highly recommended for all libraries.-Ellen D. Gilbert, Princeton, NJ Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
[This book] depicts the crucial problems in western culture in beautifully rich prose.--Gregory L. Schneider "Topeka Capital-Journal"Our Culture, What's Left of It .--Rev. Johannes L. Jacobse "Town Hall"Our Culture, What's Left of It is not simply an important book, it is a necessary one.--Roger Kimball
Theodore Dalrymple is the best doctor-writer since William Carlos Williams.
Whether you find Dalrymple refreshing or infuriating will depend on your political point of view. Dalrymple calls them as he sees them, and there is not an ounce of political correctness in him.
The Seattle Times - Bruce Ramsey
Ridiculously prolific and a favorite of bloggers.... He's one of the very best social critics of our age.
An unexpectedly moving illustration.
The New Criterion - Stefan Beck
Dalrymple has acquired a following on the sarcastic right; if anything, the thoughtful left should be reading him."
Newstatesman.Com - Geoffrey Wheatcroft
Dalrymple writes a clear and considered prose that makes him formidable indeed.
Book Review Digest - David Pryce–Jones
Theodore Dalrymple has succeeded (once more) in publishing a book that is both thoughtful and absorbing.
New York Sun - Paul Hollander
Surgically incisive essays by a British psychiatrist who deserves to be considered the George Orwell of the right.
His gift for storytelling will keep readers turning pages.
Theodore Dalrymple is the Edmund Burke of our age.… Our Culture, What’s Left of It is not simply an important book, it is a necessary one.
Engrossing. Dalrymple is intelligent, witty, uncommonly perceptive about human affairs, and scathingly honest about human folly.
The Philadelphia Inquirer - Edward J. Sozanski
It's rare for someone to produce a work on social issues that is so readable.
Tampa Tribune - Kevin Walker
Insightful....[Dalrymple is a] profound British social critic.
Nationally Syndicated Columnist - Thomas Sowell
There is so much learning and unconventional wisdom in it that you want to make the reading last.
The book is elegantly written, conscientiously argued, provocative and fiercely committed...measured polemics arouse disgust, shame and despair: they will shake many readers' views of their physical surroundings and cultural assumptions, and have an enriching power to improve the way that people think and act.
Times Literary Supplement - Richard Davenport–Hines
Theodore Dalrymple makes a devastating diagnosis of liberalism's recent ills.
Globe and Mail - Randy Boyagoda
[This book] depicts the crucial problems in western culture in beautifully rich prose.
Topeka Capital–Journal - Gregory L. Schneider
This highly intelligent and perceptive writer never hesitates to 'tell it like it is'.
Salisbury Review - Angela Ellis-Jones
A clear-eyed assessment of the human condition at the beginning of the 21st century.
Globe and Mail - H. J. Kirchhoff
Dalrymple paints a chilling portrait of what is happening these days in France.
Wanderer - James K. Fitzpatrick
Dalrymple is able to say things with an authority few have.
Terrific.... Dalrymple is direct and his judgments are so true.
New York Daily News - Stanley Crouch
The brutal, penetrating honesty of his thinking and the vividness of his prose make Theodore Dalrymple the George Orwell of our time.
Arts and Letters Daily - Denis Dutton
Striking. Most collections of essays are lackluster affairs, but Dalrymple's is an exception.
The New York Times - Jacob Heilbrunn
Penetrating analysis and literary eloquence make the book a worthy read for anyone concerned with the fate of civilization.
Courier–Journal - Andrew Martin
The manner in which Dalrymple wields his critical scalpel fixes our attention…he makes no promise to fix our condition.
Antioch Review - Jay Martin
It's rare to find such a morally coherent, historically informed and human account as Our Culture, What's Left of It .
Town Hall - Rev. Johannes L. Jacobse
Surgically incisive essays by a British psychiatrist who deserves to be considered the George Orwell of the right.
[This book] depicts the crucial problems in western culture in beautifully rich prose.
Penetrating analysis and literary eloquence make the book a worthy read for anyone concerned with the fate of civilization.
[This book] depicts the crucial problems in western culture in beautifully rich prose.
The book is elegantly written, conscientiously argued, provocative and fiercely committed...measured polemics arouse disgust, shame and despair: they will shake many readers' views of their physical surroundings and cultural assumptions, and have an enriching power to improve the way that people think and act.
Dalrymple writes a clear and considered prose that makes him formidable indeed.
Ridiculously prolific and a favorite of bloggers.... He's one of the very best social critics of our age.
Another classic book...by Theodore Dalrymple.
Dalrymple paints a chilling portrait of what is happening these days in France.
Read the words of a man who has been on the street...who brings a vast intelligence to his conclusions.
This highly intelligent and perceptive writer never hesitates to 'tell it like it is'.
The sobering, fiery and ominous truth.
Dalrymple is able to say things with an authority few have.
An unexpectedly moving illustration.
Terrific.... Dalrymple is direct and his judgments are so true.
Dalrymple has acquired a following on the sarcastic right; if anything, the thoughtful left should be reading him.
A clear-eyed assessment of the human condition at the beginning of the 21st century.
The book is elegantly written, conscientiously argued, provocative and fiercely committed...measured polemics arouse disgust, shame and despair: they will shake many readers' views of their physical surroundings and cultural assumptions, and have an enriching power to improve the way that people think and act.
Times Literary Supplement
Ridiculously prolific and a favorite of bloggers.... He's one of the very best social critics of our age.
Whether you find Dalrymple refreshing or infuriating will depend on your political point of view. Dalrymple calls them as he sees them, and there is not an ounce of political correctness in him.
It's rare to find such a morally coherent, historically informed and human account as Our Culture, What's Left of It.
The manner in which Dalrymple wields his critical scalpel fixes our attention…he makes no promise to fix our condition.
Striking. Most collections of essays are lackluster affairs, but Dalrymple's is an exception.
It's rare for someone to produce a work on social issues that is so readable.
Engrossing. Dalrymple is intelligent, witty, uncommonly perceptive about human affairs, and scathingly honest about human folly.
The brutal, penetrating honesty of his thinking and the vividness of his prose make Theodore Dalrymple the George Orwell of our time.
These bracing essays horrify, irritate, enlighten, amuse. They also stir you to remember, as Dalrymple puts it, what we have to lose.
Dalrymple writes a clear and considered prose that makes him formidable indeed.
Striking. Most collections of essays are lackluster affairs, but Dalrymple's is an exception.
Insightful....[Dalrymple is a] profound British social critic.
Nationally Syndicated Columnist
An unexpectedly moving illustration.
Dalrymple has acquired a following on the sarcastic right; if anything, the thoughtful left should be reading him."
A clear-eyed assessment of the human condition at the beginning of the 21st century.
Whether you find Dalrymple refreshing or infuriating will depend on your political point of view. Dalrymple calls them as he sees them, and there is not an ounce of political correctness in him.
Striking. Most collections of essays are lackluster affairs, but Dalrymple's is an exception.
New York Times Book Review
His gift for storytelling will keep readers turning pages.
