{"product_id":"age-of-follyisbn-9781786630446","title":"Age of Folly","description":"\u003cb\u003eAmerica’s leading essayist on the frantic retreat of democracy, in the fire and smoke of the war on terror\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn office as President of the United States, Donald J. Trump is undoubtedly a menace, but he isn’t a surprise. He embodies the spirit of an age of folly abandoned to conspicuous consumption of vanity and greed. A self-glorifying photo-op, Trump is made to the measure of an infotainment media in which presidential candidates are game show contestants brought to judgment on election day before the throne of cameras by whom and for whom they are produced.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e To regard Trump as an amazement beyond belief is to give him credit where none is due, to mistake a symptom for the cause. Trump’s presence in the White House follows from an American regime change over the last twenty-five years during which a weakened but still operational democracy gave way to a stupefied and dysfunctional plutocracy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The history of that change is a hedge against the despair of the present, making possible the revolt against what G. K. Chesterton called “the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about.”\u003c\/p\u003e“To read Lapham’s work, so erudite and conscientious, is to realize that saving our democracy will take bold-face truth-telling, bravery and a populace willing to change: An alchemical improbability. However, if you can read this book and not want to commit to the work necessary to save our democracy, you are already lost.” \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eLiterary Hub\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Although frequently dark, \u003ci\u003eThe Age of Folly\u003c\/i\u003e comes with much humor and elegant writing … Lapham’s sharp prose pricks the self-importance of the powerful, who too often parade with claim to omniscience and omnipotency … Highly recommended.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e —\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“[Illustrates] how and why our democracy has given way to a dysfunctional plutocracy of the super-rich, by the super-rich, and for the super-rich. Taken together, the book’s essays, published between 1990 and 2016 in \u003ci\u003eLapham’s Quarterly\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eHarper’s\u003c\/i\u003e, serve as a powerful and alarming American history … With \u003ci\u003eAge of Folly\u003c\/i\u003e, Lapham provides the historical context needed to understand our current political moment.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Adam Boretz, \u003ci\u003eThe Millions\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Without doubt our greatest satirist—elegant, honorable, learned and fair. I love reading him.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e —Kurt Vonnegut\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Lewis Lapham—born of Mark Twain and H. L. Mencken—is the most provocative and engaging essayist in the country.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e —George Plimpton\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “One of the last liberal thinkers, a man of elegant humor. Should he wander onto the premises of Fox TV, he’d surely be shot down like a dog.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e —Liz Smith\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Lapham’s indignation is ecumenical, his scorn spread as smoothly as butter from left to right and north to south across the face of contemporary America.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e —\u003ci\u003eBoston Globe\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Lapham is a wonderful writer, a connoisseur of the perfect word.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e —\u003ci\u003eBusiness Week\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“The combination of Lapham’s urbane prose and lethal wit … makes for delightful reading.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e —\u003ci\u003eForbes\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eLewis H. Lapham\u003c\/b\u003e is the founding Editor of \u003ci\u003eLapham’s Quarterly\u003c\/i\u003e and the  Editor Emeritus of \u003ci\u003eHarper’s\u003c\/i\u003e. His columns received the National Magazine Award in 1995 for exhibiting “an exhilarating point of view in an age of conformity,” and, in 2002, the Thomas Paine Journalism Award. He was inducted into the American Society of Magazine Editors’ Hall of Fame in 2007. His other books include \u003ci\u003eMoney and Class in America\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eFortune’s Child\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eImperial Masquerade\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Wish for Kings\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eHotel America\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eWaiting for the Barbarians\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eTheater of War\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Agony of Mammon\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eGag Rule\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003ePretensions to Empire\u003c\/i\u003e.","brand":"Verso","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46303393349861,"sku":"NP9781786630446","price":14.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781786630445.jpg?v=1730754138","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/age-of-follyisbn-9781786630446","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}