Victory Over Victory

Victory over Victory is a meticulous critique of our compulsive love of winning and the arrogance that frequently accompanies it. We crave the trivial but exciting victories of entertainment, the uncertain victories of daily living, and the big-time victories of politics, religion, and salvation. Whether we identify with famous athletes, action heroes in block-buster films and novels, beauty contest winners, lovers whom weve conquered, predatory quests for wealth, political parties, God and Allah as Celestial Champions, or cults that cater to our longing for enlightenment, our lives are governed by a vision of supremacy.
When we look at this compulsion systematically, we find a force that permeates our culture. Other studies have examined isolated topics such as politics and true believers, but this essay aims at being comprehensive. It portrays a panorama of compulsion from the Super Bowl to ultimate Salvation, in which non-stop quests for victory are also growing more hilarious. Prize-winning coonhounds, for example, wear mascara to enhance their sexy style in competitions. This ambitious study questions whether victory can ever be compatible with modesty and searches for alternatives to arrogance in the final chapter.

Victory over Victory is a very powerful piece of social criticism. The flow of argument is crisp, logical, and beautiful. Professor Peter Bien, Professor of English Emeritus, Dartmouth College

The empirical richness of this study proves its point beyond a doubt. Professor Tom Clarke, Stonehill College