Volume 1, Number 3 · September 26, 1963
An American Tragedy
By Irving Howe
Power, Politics and People
by C. Wright Mills, edited by Irving Louis Horowitz
Oxford University Press, 657 pp., $8.50
C. Wright Mills was a man who, in Malraux's phrase, wished to 'put a scar upon the map.' He had little charm and less loveliness; one could not easily imagine him relaxing into ease or wisdom. He was a man of power, an intensely personal kind of power, which came down upon one like a fist, hard and good-humred. Though himself a dedicated intellectual, he felt a certain contempt—mixed with uneasy admiration—toward most of the New York intellectuals, for what he wanted above all was that his opinions, his desires should matter in this world, and he had become convinced that most of the people writing for the serious magazines had surrendered the hope of power or influence and settled into a routine of brilliant display.
Review, 2616 words
To read the full text of this piece, please choose one of the following options:
|
If you are already a subscriber to the Review's electronic edition, please sign in: |
To subscribe to the electronic edition, please press the button below. |
To purchase access to this article for $3, please press the button below. |