September 29, 2009
Derbyshire, a columnist and contributing editor for The National Review, confronts the "mendacity of hope" in this irreverent-sometimes-inflammatory screed. Appealing exclusively to American conservatives, Derbyshire impresses upon his audience the necessity of maintaining a pessimistic view of human nature; happy talk, he says, is for children, fools and leftists. Derbyshire, a Brit by birth, identifies himself as a "metrocon," a conservative city dweller, and his views embrace traditional American right wing beliefs (big government is bad; immigration is a threat) with a few notable aberrations (he's not religious) and a few universally off-putting stances (he's against female suffrage and approvingly quotes Hermann Goring on culture). Those who enjoy Derbyshire's work in The National Review will enjoy this harvest of provocations delivered with a witty, light touch, however heavy their implications.
September 1, 2009
Derbyshire, columnist for the conservative magazine National Review, defies the image of conservatives as dour and humorless with this very funnythough seriouslook at the lure of the politics of hope. He rails against efforts to make conservatismand its political beliefs of self-reliance and limited governmentmore attractive. True conservatives should brace themselves for a new life in the wilderness. Derbyshire explains pessimism not as the fear of a disaster such as terrorism but as the deep, abiding distrust of human nature, especially when agglomerated in the form of government. From this perspective, he explores several touchy areas, including religion, the economy, culture, and education. About the popular cult of diversity, he warns that by embracing it, conservatives have given up cherished values of equal treatment under the law and freedom of association. Lambasting the longevity of congressmen, exceeding that of many Third World dictators, and the aggrandizement of the presidency regardless of party, he argues that political careerism has reduced the objective of tending to the nations business. Whether readers agree with his political views or not, they will appreciate his wit.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)