"Candor & Perversion" collects nearly forty of Roger Shattuck's previously published essays on a broad range of topics in education, literature and the arts. Nearly all of these essays were published after 1985, predominantly in Salmagundi, The New York Review of Books and The New Republic. It is an outstanding collection of essays by a scholar of wide-ranging, thoughtful and sober intelligence.

The collection is divided into two parts. The first part, "Intellectual Craftsmanship," contains a series of polemical essays that deal with topics generally subsumed in recent years under the term "Culture Wars." In this part, Shattuck stakes out his position clearly in a number of essays dealing with the proper role of education and the importance of the canon. Thus, in the essay "Nineteen Theses on Literature," Shattuck states that, "we have brought ourselves to a great deal of perplexity about the basic role of education." This perplexity arises from the question of whether education's proper role should be "[to] socialize the young within an existing culture and offer them the means to succeed within that culture" or, in the alternative, "[to] give to the young the means to challenge and overthrow the existing culture, presumably in order to achieve a better life." Shattuck's response is in favor of the former, choosing a conservative view of education's role. In doing so, he essentially resolves this question consistent with a position he articulates in another of his essays, "Education, Higher and Lower," where he states that, "some of us have come to believe that it is possible, even necessary, to be liberal in political matters and conservationist in cultural matters."

These polemical pieces on the role of education are followed by a number of essays that explore such topics as "The Spiritual in Art," "How We Think at the Movies" (where he explores, among other things, whether thinking is possible without language), "Life Before Language: Nathalie Sarraute" (where he examines Sarraute's attempts to capture, in fiction, mental life as it exists before it "gets caught and stifled in the rough net of conventional language"), "Michel Foucault," and "Radical Skepticism and How We Got There." In all of these essays, Shattuck explores, with erudition and balance, a range of topics that have been prone in recent years to irrational polemics.

The second part of the collection, "A Critics Job of Work," contains essays that are best described as literary journalism. In a series of essays under the broad title "Tracking the Avant Guard in France," Shattuck explores the biographies and artistic significance of a range of artists and writers, including Marcel Duchamp, Hans Arp, Sarah Bernhardt, Pablo Picasso, and Jean Cocteau. The most telling of his essays in this part of the book is titled "From Aestheticism to Fascism," where Shattuck calmly proffers the lineage that ran from the "antinomian, decadent aestheticism" of the "art for art's sake" movement to the 'irrationalism, racism and nationalism that produced the most vicious and destructive aberration of modern times' in Germany and Italy.

The final essays in the collection are broadly grouped under the title "America, Africa and Elsewhere." Here, Shattuck explores a number of writers, including Mary Settle, Arthur Miller, Octavio Paz, V. S. Naipaul, and Leopold Senghor, as well as the artistic significance of the collaboration between Stieglitz and O'Keefe. These essays are wide ranging, insightful and balanced. The last of these essays, "Scandal and Stereotypes on Broadway: The New Puritanism," seemingly comes full circle from the opening essay of the book insofar as Shattuck reiterates his culturally conservative position in a stinging review of "Angels in America," stating that it was a play for which he was ashamed of himself for not having walked out. In Shattuck's words, the play "represents Puritanism inverted."

"Candor & Perversion" reaffirms Roger Shattuck's position as one of America's foremost cultural commentators. If you're interested in the polemics that have engulfed education, literature and the arts in the past decade, I can only say: read this book! You may not agree with Shattuck, but you will find his intelligent and careful reasoning regarding these issues a refreshing change from the often muddled and irrational posturing that characterizes much writing on these very important subjects.

'Candor & Perversion' collects nearly forty of Roger Shattuck's previously published essays on a broad range of topics in education, literature and the arts. Nearly all of these essays were published after 1985, predominantly in 'Salmagundi', 'The New York Review of Books' and 'The New Republic'. It is an outstanding collection of essays by a scholar of wide-ranging, thoughtful and sober intelligence.

The collection is divided into two parts. The first part, 'Intellectual Craftsmanship', contains a series of polemical essays that deal with topics generally subsumed in recent years under the term 'Culture Wars'. In this part, Shattuck stakes out his position clearly in a number of essays dealing with the proper role of education and the importance of the canon. Thus, in the essay 'Nineteen Theses on Literature,' Shattuck states that, 'we have brought ourselves to a great deal of perplexity about the basic role of education.' This perplexity arises from the question of whether education's proper role should be '[to] socialize the young within an existing culture and offer them the means to succeed within that culture' or, in the alternative, '[to] give to the young the means to challenge and overthrow the existing culture, presumably in order to achieve a better life.' Shattuck's response is in favor of the former, choosing a conservative view of education's role. In doing so, he essentially resolves this question consistent with a position he articulates in another of his essays, 'Education, Higher and Lower,' where he states that, 'some of us have come to believe that it is possible, even necessary, to be liberal in political matters and conservationist in cultural matters.'

These polemical pieces on the role of education are followed by a number of essays that explore such topics as 'The Spiritual in Art', 'How We Think at the Movies' (where he explores, among other things, whether thinking is possible without language), 'Life Before Language: Nathalie Sarraute' (where he examines Sarraute's attempts to capture, in fiction, mental life as it exists before it 'gets caught and stifled in the rough net of conventional language'), 'Michel Foucault', and 'Radical Skepticism and How We Got There.' In all of these essays, Shattuck explores, with erudition and balance, a range of topics that have been prone in recent years to irrational polemics.

The second part of the collection, 'A Critics Job of Work,' contains essays that are best described as literary journalism. In a series of essays under the broad title 'Tracking the Avant Guard in France,' Shattuck explores the biographies and artistic significance of a range of artists and writers, including Marcel Duchamp, Hans Arp, Sarah Bernhardt, Pablo Picasso, and Jean Cocteau. The most telling of his essays in this part of the book is titled 'From Aestheticism to Fascism,' where Shattuck calmly proffers the lineage that ran from the 'antinomian, decadent aestheticism' of the 'art for art's sake' movement to the 'irrationalism, racism and nationalism that produced the most vicious and destructive aberration of modern times' in Germany and Italy.

The final essays in the collection are broadly grouped under the title 'America, Africa and Elsewhere.' Here, Shattuck explores a number of writers, including Mary Settle, Arthur Miller, Octavio Paz, V. S. Naipaul, and Leopold Senghor, as well as the artistic significance of the collaboration between Stieglitz and O'Keefe. These essays are wide ranging, insightful and balanced. The last of these essays, 'Scandal and Stereotypes on Broadway: The New Puritanism', seemingly comes full circle from the opening essay of the book insofar as Shattuck reiterates his culturally conservative position in a stinging review of 'Angels in America', stating that it was a play for which he was ashamed of himself for not having walked out. In Shattuck's words, the play 'represents Puritanism inverted.'

'Candor & Perversion' reaffirms Roger Shattuck's position as one of America's foremost cultural commentators. If you're interested in the polemics that have engulfed education, literature and the arts in the past decade, I can only say: read this book! You may not agree with Shattuck, but you will find his intelligent and careful reasoning regarding these issues a refreshing change from the often muddled and irrational posturing that characterizes much writing on these very important subjects.

As with his previous works, such as FORBIDDEN KNOWLEDGE and THE INNOCENT EYE, Roger Shattuck manages to cover many topics in his new book. There is no thematic link between the essays--it is enough that Shattuck writes well about each subject. Shattuck is, along with William Pritchard, Denis Donoghue, and Andrew Delbanco, one of our most perspicacious and eloquent critics, as he is equally adept at analyzing a writer's words (such as in his essay on Mallarme's poetry) or a social phenomenon (such as in his essay "Radical Skepticisim and How We Got Here"). The clarity of his writing prompts one to question the value of the opaque prose produced by many academics in our age.

Janet Sasson Edgette should have been fictitious adolescent Holden Caulfield's therapist. On the evidence of her new book, she is one of those rare adults who understands adolescents' obsession with all things "phony." She writes with chatty authority about what the experience of therapy feels like for teens, mapping the many shoals on which adolescent therapy can founder.

Edgette is savvy about teens' reluctance to participate in therapy. She recognizes that they don't trust the therapist and that they find the entire process hopelessly contrived, potentially pointless, yet vaguely threatening. She knows too that therapists frequently make this bad situation worse by trying too hard to make teen clients like them, or taking on too much of the responsibility for making therapy work.

"Maybe the most important part of our job as therapists to unhappy teenagers is to reinstate a measure of faith in their pleasure at letting a kind adult really get to know them, and allowing themselves to be told what they need to hear, " she writes. Some of the essential steps toward that goal include being mindful of the teen client's need to save face, and instinctive radar for therapeutic artifice.

The book has no theoretical pretensions and consists primarily of tips and case commentary. Still, a kind of philosophy of treatment does emerge - one based on mutual respect, subtle but definite boundaries, and creative responses to the challenges inherent in doing therapy with teens. For clinicians who feel deficient in this last respect, the chapter on "Troubleshooting Individual Session Impasses" will be especially helpful.

Book Review by Jim Naughton
Psychotherapy Networker
September/October, 2002

This book was exactly what I needed. As a therapist-in-training, I am working mostly with adolescents. I felt that I needed a little guidance and a few suggestions in how to keep things going. Dr. Edgette's honesty, realism, and simplicity in dealing with teens makes perfect sense. I continue to watch other therapists continue to tell adolescents what they "should" be doing and not listening and comprehending where they are coming from. This book not only helped me by showing me what to do in most situations, but confirmed that I am on the right track in many ways. My only disappointment was that the book wasn't longer! Thanks to Dr. Edgette for a realistic, effective approach to use with teenagers.

For anyone who loves Codrescu's prose, try and tackle his poetry. I have read all of his prose, but find that his poetry is actually the most memorable, and astounding. He has a quickness in his prose, but he is trying to remember to be reader friendly. His poetry moves at the speed of light (or faster, which I know is impossible), and yet balances delicate phrasing, odd tangents, brilliant structure, it is always funny as heck, and finally, deep in a way that some of his shorter prose especially doesn't bother to be. His poetry is like that of a great religious saint for our time -- half-Hermes, and half-Einstein. I love it! He's that bizarre oddity -- a second language poet who is so astonishing in a second language as to be more fluent than most of our very capable poets. Gee whiz, read this book and struggle with it as I have -- you will not feel sad ever again. He is probably the most important living poet in the dada-surrealism lineage, and yet he has crossed over and taken up a kind of Charles Olson-esque study of real places and cities. Dazzling, and unlikely to ever be repeated in this language, Codrescu is our greatest cultural resource, and his poetry is the heart of his heartening project.