Falling upwards: essays in defense of the imagination

361 Pages·2006·1.15 MB·English

by  Lee Siegel

FA L L I N G U PWA R D S $25.00 US
Praise for
$30.00 CAN
SPECS:
“As the Hollywoodization of our culture continues its inexorable progress—a world in
100lb superwhite
matte polypro lam which the dominant principle of creators and critics alike seems to be ‘I won’t expose your
con if you don’t expose mine’—Lee Siegel’s collection of essays is a reminder of what critics S ex and the City, Saul Bellow, Eyes Wide Shut, Dante
4/C process PLUS 1 used to do and what they are supposed to do. The best literary critics of the past, whether
and the American self, Barbara Kingsolver, acting
metallic (PMS 877) of the right or the left, have almost always been good social critics as well. With Falling
in Hollywood, Soviet painting in Soho, Jane
Upwards, Siegel demonstrates that he belongs in their company. To read him is to be
Austen in the present, J.K. Rowling—nothing escapes Lee
reminded of what criticism used to aspire to in terms of range, learning, high standards, and
good writing and—dare one say it?—values.” —DAVID RIEFF, Siegel’s incandescent eye. Siegel possesses an intellectual
author of Slaughterhouse: Bosnia and the Failure of the West range and independent perspective unmatched by his peers.
and ABed for the Night: Humanitarianism in Crisis
Falling Upwards brings together the best of Siegel’s essays,
all of them rich with the trademark wit and intelligence that
“Lee Siegel writes two kinds of essays. In one, he holds the feet of the overpraised and under-
have won him many friends and more than a few enemies.
talented to the fire of his wicked wit. In the other, he elucidates canonical works—
Chekhov’s stories and The Sopranos among them—with brilliant cogency. In every case, In these essential writings, Siegel deftly uses the occasion of
Siegel is wildly and satisfyingly unpredictable.” —JANET MALCOLM, a book, film, painting, or television show not merely to
author of The Journalist and the Murdererand The Silent Woman
appraise, but to make sense of life in a way that is more defi-
ant of impoverished cultural “norms” than most contempo-
“Lee Siegel’s essays are always charged with one rare quality: a sense of surprise. His subjects
rary artistic expression.
range from high culture to popular culture, but he digs into each with intelligence and wit,
LEE SIEGEL is a celebrated critic and essayist whose always finding something that might elude even the best readers. He never takes his ideas Guided by the belief that a calculating self-interest in
off the rack.Savor his vigorous prose, and prepare to be surprised.” —PETE HAMILL, art-making diminishes the prospects for the imagination in
writing has appeared in Harper’s, The New Republic,
author of ADrinking Lifeand Snow in August life, Siegel celebrates authentic sensibilities and lambastes
Time, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, and The New York
manufactured sentiments. In a hypercritical age—when the
Times, among other publications. He received the 2002
“Lee Siegel writes with exuberant wit, and a particular relish for the author and work at
supercritical media exert more cultural force than any artistic
National Magazine Award for Reviews and Criticism. hand. He has tremendous range, as the essays on Malamud, Kubrick, and D. H. Lawrence
movement—Siegel values intuition and true feeling over
Siegel is a senior editor at The New Republicand lives with attest; all his appreciations are felt, and even his satire savor of ‘the thing itself.’ He has the
eyes and ears to bring the phenomena of cultureto life as few other critics can.” dry, practical intellect. With uncanny insight, yet also with
his wife in New York City.
—DAVID BROMWICH,Sterling Professor of English, Yale University, and author of incomparable logic and analytical rigor, he has invented a
Hazlitt: The Mind of a Criticand Politics by Other Means: Higher Education and Group Thinking
new idiom in which the language of criticism embodies the
Jacket design by PracherDesigns playful, creative, synthesizing power that has been largely
US $25.00 / $30.00 CAN
Author photograph by Jill Krementz ISBN-13: 978-0-465-07800-4 abdicated by the arts in our time. In writing about works of
ISBN-10: 0-465-07800-1
AMember of the Perseus Books Group culture, Siegel has created a standard by which to judge them.
www.basicbooks.com
8/06
0465078001-text 6/27/06 2:24 PM Page i
Falling Upwards
0465078001-text 6/27/06 2:24 PM Page ii
0465078001-text 6/27/06 2:24 PM Page iii
Falling Upwards
Essays in Defense of the Imagination
(cid:1)(cid:2)(cid:3)
Lee Siegel
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
New York
0465078001-text 6/27/06 2:24 PM Page iv
Copyright © 2006by Lee Siegel
Published by Basic Books
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
With the exception of the Introduction,the essays in this book originally
appeared,sometimes in substantially different form,in the following
publications:The New Republic,Harper’s,The Atlantic Monthly,The New Yorker,
The Nation,The Los Angeles Times Book Review,Talk,Slate,andDoubleTake.
“D.H.Lawrence and the Romantic Option”originally appeared as the
introduction to the Modern Library edition of D.H.Lawrence’s The Lost Girl.
All rights reserved.Printed in the United States of America.No part of this book
may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except
in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.For
information,address Basic Books,387 Park Avenue South,New York,NY
10016-8810.
Books published by Basic Books are available at special discounts for bulk
purchases in the United States by corporations,institutions,and other
organizations.For more information,please contact the Special Markets
Department at the Perseus Books Group,11Cambridge Center,Cambridge MA
02142,or call [phone]or [phone],or e-mail
[email protected].
A CIP data record for this title is available from the Library of Congress
ISBN-13:978-0-465-07800-4;ISBN-10:0-465-07800-1
06070809/ 10987654321
0465078001-text 6/27/06 2:24 PM Page v
For Christina
0465078001-text 6/27/06 2:24 PM Page vi
0465078001-text 6/27/06 2:24 PM Page vii
To live.To please.To be loved.To love.To write.Not to be duped.
To be oneself—and yet,to be successful.How to be read?
And how to live,despising or hating all sides.
–
Paul Valéry,“On Stendhal”
0465078001-text 6/27/06 2:24 PM Page viii
0465078001-text 6/27/06 2:24 PM Page ix
Contents
Introduction xi
Part One:
The Imagination and Its Obstacles
(cid:1)(cid:2)(cid:3)
Harry Potter and the Fear of Not Flying 3
A Book ofVirtues for the Right-thinking Left 17
Seize the Day Job: Sacrificing Saul Bellow on the
Altar of One’s Own Career 26
Persecution and the Art of Painting 48
Part Two:Faking It
(cid:1)(cid:2)(cid:3)
Prophets of Profit:How Artists Slyly Critique Their
Wealthy Patrons 79
From Stalin to SoHo 84
Barbara Kingsolver’s Icy Virtue 105
Television and the Pope 131
[ ix]