Alan Wolfe Reviews Eric Miller's New Biography of Christopher Lasch

Check out Alan Wolfe's review of Eric Miller's Hope in a Scattering Time: A Life of Christopher Lasch. (Unfortunately, you need to be a subscriber to The New Republic to read the entire review on-line). Miller, a professor of history at Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, has written the first major biography of the late historian and cultural critic.

Wolfe's review is generally positive, but like so many essay-reviews of this nature we learn more about Lasch than we do about the argument of Miller's book. I seem to remember the same phenomenon happening a few years ago when David Brown's biography of Richard Hofstadter appeared. Reviewers used their reviews to pontificate about Hofstadter. Few reviews actually unpacked the argument of Brown's book.

At least The New Republic could have accompanied Wolfe's review with the cover image of Miller's book. Instead they opted for an image of Lasch's The Agony of the American Left.

I am waiting for Eerdmans to send me a review copy of Hope in a Scattering Time. When it arrives I look forward to working my way through the book here at the blog.