The Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of American Culture

A. I learned a lot about David himself. That's why I think the book should be called a memoir or autobiographical sketch. Q. What did you learn about Mr. Mamet? A. He works alone and is basically a loner, but has a wife, at least three daughters, and at least one son, who keep him company when he needs it. His grandfathers both immigrated from Poland. He is of Jewish descent. His father worked as a traveling clothes salesman through the Depression years. As a youth, he went away four years to a Jewish summer camp. His parents were not devout Jews but David is growing more devout as he ages. He grew up in Chicago and once considered himself liberal. Now he considers himself a reformed liberal, or a new-minted Conservative. He worked as a cab driver at one time and dated a young lady who worked for the Mob. He's written several plays, television and movie scripts, some of which were criticized by leftist newspapers such as the Village Voice. In fact, it was a critical review of one of his plays by the Village Voice that got him started thinking of writing a book about politics. Q. But you think it's better considered memoir than a political book? A. Yes. David is mostly writing about himself. He generalizes a lot about the Left and sometimes cites Noam Chomsky or points a finger at Jane Fonda or Al Sharpton or Che Guevara, but this is not a reasoned, organized critique of the Left. It seemed to me that David still carries some guilt, or what he prefers to call shame, about having been a so-called liberal in his younger days and feels it might help him, maybe as a catharsis or confession, to spit it all out now. Q. So it's mostly a personal rant or does he make some good points? A. He makes some very good points. I agree with him completely about the uselessness of a liberal arts education, middle managers, counselors, life coaches, most government welfare programs, Affirmative Action, political correctness, and other people and institutions he notes as being without any value to society. But I also think he's wrong to blame or accuse these people. Take, for example, the MA in English bagging groceries because he learned no marketable skills. He probably thought he was going to be useful one day, maybe as a teacher, or maybe even as a writer, like David. Q. So you don't agree with him entirely? A. David advocates for one pole but I don't think he's going to change the minds of people advocating for the opposite pole. One day, perhaps, he'll rise above both poles, but he's not there yet. As an important person, which he obviously is, David cannot just sit back and live anonymously for the rest of his life. He might have been better off just declining when asked to write a book on politics. He tends to come off as a little mean-spirited in parts of the book, even though, as he notes, you can also call it realpolitik or something similar. Read the book and give it your own name.

I am reacting to the earlier critique of Mamet's book. "This book is no surprise..." Please note that the hostility is personal and not intellectually based. I found that I agreeed with Mamet's throughout, but to liberal critics immidiatly make myself open to personal attack as well. What a vapid bunch they are. I loved the book.

“If you're not a liberal at twenty you have no heart, if you're not a conservative at forty you have no brain.” Winston Churchill If you can't figure out why the above quotation is my review ...