Out on a Limb
Selected Writing, 1989–2021
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4.5 • 6 Ratings
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- $17.99
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- $17.99
Publisher Description
Andrew Sullivan, “one of the most influential journalists of the last three decades” (The New York Times) and founding editor of The Daily Dish presents a collection of 60 his most iconic and powerful essays of social and political commentary from The New Republic, The Atlantic, The New York Times Magazine, New York magazine, and more.
Over the course of his career, Andrew Sullivan has never shied away from staking out bold positions on social and political issues. A fiercely independent conservative, in 1989 he wrote the first national cover story in favor of marriage equality, and then an essay, “The Politics of Homosexuality,” in The New Republic in 1993, an article called the most consequential of the decade in the gay rights movement. A pioneer of online journalism, he started blogging in 2000 and helped define the new medium with his blog, The Daily Dish. In 2007, he was one of the first political writers to champion the presidential campaign of Barack Obama, and his cover story for The Atlantic, “Why Obama Matters,” was seen as a milestone in that campaign’s messaging. In the past five years, he has proved a vocal foe both of Donald Trump and of wokeness on the left. Loved and loathed by both left and right, Sullivan is in a tribe of one.
Bold, timely, and thought-provoking, this collection of “trenchant observations from an influential journalist” (Kirkus Reviews) on culture, politics, religion, and philosophy demonstrates why he continues to be ranked among the most intriguing and important public intellectuals in US media.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Sixty essays from Sullivan (Virtually Normal), former editor of the New Republic, are collected in this frank critique of America's social and political culture. The pieces, which come from the New Republic, the New York Times and New York magazine, among other publications, are organized chronologically. "The Princess Bride," from 1997, studies the phenomenon of Princess Diana's fame, while 2007's "Goodbye to All That: Why Obama Matters" sees Sullivan arguing that the case for an Obama presidency "has less to do with him than with the moment he is meeting." "Why I Blog," from 2008, meanwhile, takes a look at Sullivan's early dabbling with online journalism, wherein he found blogging an "exhilarating literary liberation," and 2016's "Democracies End When They Are Too Democratic" uses Plato's Republic to study Trump's presidency. The author takes provocative views on such topics as campus culture (which he admonishes for turning "away from liberal education... toward the imperatives of an identity-based ‘social justice' movement") and the concept of hate crimes (he's wary of them as "an oddly biased category")—and readers across the political spectrum will find themselves under fire. Fans of Sullivan's work are sure to enjoy having his intellectual curiosity and impassioned prose collected in one place.
Customer Reviews
Insightful
A series of Andrew Sullivan’s best essays from the last decade. Well thought out and written with depth. Very insightful and thought provoking.