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Summary: cornel west reader
Review: Although unnecessarily dense at times and verbose at others, this book is a wonderful sample of the work of one of America's most important public intellectuals. His open discussions of racism and sexism and his sincere attempts to reconcile his "Chekovian Christian" ethics with Marxism are fascinating. Especially enjoyable are his essays on popular culture and the essays "black strivings in the the twilight of civilization", "Christian Love and Heterosexism", and "Religion and the left".
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Summary: Brother has a Mind
Review: and He knows How to use it&put it down Properly.I always enjoy any debate&Topic He is talking about.like on TV He is the same in His Books.a Dynimite Mind who explores many things&paints pictures from all points of views.if you have followed Cornel West's Career then add this to your Book-Self.check it out.
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Summary: lucid pensees for the new millenium...
Review: As an avowed atheist, I don't care for much of the content at work in West's treatment's of various cultural phenomena. I disagree with him on most of his more important ideas. And he isn't as critical of urban black culture as he should be (I think, and therein lies my own bias), given his own Chehkovian-Christian foundation... But if we read only the thinkers with whom we had profound agreement- what would that make of our perceptions? Without dialogue there is no community... He deals with the seemingly contradictory elements at work in the human character in an interesting, if psuedo-absurdist fashion. And his optimism isn't a naive optimism, though, as I mentioned before, I think he has on cultural blinders. I also thinks he tends to romanticize various nihilisic phenomena deeply entrenched in black culture- his dalliance with hip-hop belies both his idealization of that culture and his need to be appreciated as 'authentic' by modern black America, a culture that seems (at least to me) to be quite anti-intellectual in any respects. How does a Harvard Doctor transcend his own thoughtful nature in order to initiate dialogue with both sides of the racial divide in America? Let's be honest here, America is a country that has bee, is and most likely always will be deeply obseessed with questions of race and identity. This puts Dr. West in an interesting position and it's illuminating to watch him wrestle with both the angels and demons of his fate... I should add that Dr. West is a highly original and incisive thinker, a fine literary craftsman, and, I think, a boldly provocative scholar, in his own right, especially considering that he works within that bloated uber-vampire of university-systems, Harvard... Ultimately, his views enrich my own and enable me to more fully articulate my diffrences with him. Finally, his thoughts on aesthetics (his insights into Chehkov are probably the most interesting of the non-russian treatments) and the black experience (as when he writes on Coltrane) are sublime. Whenever I put this book down, I am smiling.
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Summary: Admirable Anthology
Review: Authored, arranged and edited by Cornel West, this anthology of writings by America's premier black public intellectual gives us an instructive portal onto West's well-stocked mind. Addressing subjects as wide-ranging and diverse as (post)modernity, American pragmatism, progressive Marxist theory, radical democratic politics, prophetic Christian thought, race and religion, West shows himself to be a man of towering intellect, engaged spirit, and enviable verve. This is a perfect primer to this Chekhovian Christian's impressive thought.
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Summary: 'Racism is bad because it is' -- Cornel West.
Review: Cornel West is a perversion of traditional acedemic leftism. Pious hyperbole aside, he hasn't brought any new information into the world, nor has he yet to condense his thoughts properly so as to actually piece together a pursuasive argument. And his prose is absolutely rancid. Most university pedagogues abandoned the dogma of their church-based universities during the latter half of the 19th century. Hitherto, the intellectual as a profession had arose as an articulator of religious ideas and ideals. Having recently lost his faith, the intellectual became an articulator of pseudo-religious ideas and ideals, with utopia not falling in heaven, but in a particular place on earth (The Soviet Union, Cambodia, Cuba, etc). Many intellectuals have felt that their innate cognative abilities are undervalued and underappreciated, and therefore have long yearned to be vanguards in a society where there exists a stark division between the planners (the intellectual) and the planned (the prole). But Cornel West isn't an acedemic intellectual in this traditional sense, this tradition being violently severed by virtue the fact that West isn't an intellectual at all. He's a 'Black intellectual'. He simply exists to goad capitalists and make whites feel wonderful about themselves by touting an intellect that isn't there. He hasn't explained why it is that blacks continue to dominate athletics at the same time low test scores are being blamed on malnutrition. He's the archetypal charlatan. A pendantic, gormless bore who can't entertain one intelligent thought. The day Cornel West says something tantamount to his monumental intellect is the day that Satan skates to work.
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Summary: Renaissance thinker gets big points
Review: Cornel West's passion must be teaching or perhaps more accurately enlightening people. By presenting a collection of his works, he personally leads the reader on a crash course through the developoment of Western thought and how it structures our own thoughts and prejudices. He leads the reader through the consciousness of being Black in a land that doesn't value Blacks evenly with lighter-skinned peoples. He informs the reader of the challenges his Christian identity has in a society that integrates Western values as opposed to the more authentic prophetic voices such as MLK. His collection also is a good launching pad to continue pursuing topics, lots of references to other sources. I'm grateful to have been taken on such a marvelous tour of both the personal and academic Cornel West.
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Summary: Making white society work for a black man.
Review: Hello, Stevie wonder said "In the sixties we had hearts of steel." Then he went on to make a point how we are being bamboozeled into the new century, but we really are going into the 1900's. Cornel captures the reader yearning for the reflextions of the strength we had in the 60's. When black men were strong, and just. I was a little boy then, but God put black men that were examples in my life. The ones who stood for justice, and not degrade another black man or woman. My heart bleeds, and my soul stirs deep in my bowels today because the Afro-American race has let money become our golden calf after delivered from slavery. Cornel paints a picture of why we sell out, how to turn around to not be a sell out, and stay to the right and true cause. He proves my point that to be equally white is nothing, but to achieve what is inside is truth. Cornel keeps my hope alive. He reminds me of those brothers of the 60's that didn't let money make them a man, but what is inside makes the man. God bless him, and his. Jon
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Summary: Absolutely Essential
Review: I bought this collection of Cornel West's writings without knowing what to expect. In fact, it is an amazing compending of his best writings over the years. The best parts of the collection are the introductions that West writes to each of the pieces. He tells us the intellectual influences behind each piece, as well as how they represent his reaction to a particular time and a particular intellectual climate. It's a pity more public intellectuals don't take the time to do a work like this. I can't recommend it enough.
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Summary: i should've listened to their advice...
Review: i had heard cornel west speak his mind on a few television programs, and i thought to myself, "i have got to check him out!" i also heard the numerous negative reviews from other readers. i even voted one reviewer unhelpful (sorry). after reading the first eighty pages of this 600 pg. book, i decided to thumb through it. never before have i read a philosopher's work that was so self-contradictory as his. i should've known better when he described himself as a "chekovian christian". i might as well call myself a "shakesperean buddhist" or a "wildean puritan". the cornel reader will make a wonderful 600-page doorstop, but it will not make anything philosophicaly clearer. use it as a weapon against political ramblers. learn how not to be so consumed by your own egoism that you forget your own intellectual virtues...or follow in my footsteps, expecting more, and be dismayed.
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Summary: Cornell West is the Best
Review: I have read Cornell Wests' biopic materials and have come to appreciate the Voice Crying in the wilderness. America is better because we have authors like Cornell who are willing to address issues not considered popular with such lucid and prolific treatment. People have a lot to learn from reading his insightful approach to race and relations. More power to Cornell West.
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