The good folks at the Intercollegiate Studies Institute have released a
list of the 50 best books of the century. There's a fair amount of overlap
between
National Review's own list of the 100 best books of the century,
released this spring, and ISI's selection, so we won't assume they're
talking about us when they write: "[M]any were dissatisfied with the
several 'Best' lists published in the last year, finding them biased, too
contemporary, or simply careless."
ISI's list of greats is very good, but even more welcome is its companion
list of the 50 worst books of the century. The result is an amusing survey
of literary low points: Margaret Mead's Coming of Age in Samoa comes in
at number one, but apparently the gullible anthropologist faced stiff
competition from the likes of Noam Chomsky, John Dewey, Paul Ehrlich,
Stanley Fish, Alger Hiss, Alfred Kinsey, Catharine MacKinnon, John Reed,
and Margaret Sanger. Two presidents show up: JFK and Woodrow Wilson. And
ISI's comments are wonderful. Here's what they say about Richard Rorty's
Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature: "The best, and therefore worst,
exposition of American philosophical pragmatism."
For both lists — best and worst — visit ISI at:
http://www.isi.org/publications/ir/5050.html
