Well, last Thursday David and I finally had our sit-down, as they say on The Sopranos. It was an interesting, civil, and long conversation. But, at least for me, it was pretty anti-climactic and even a bit dispiriting. David did a very good job of discussing those things he wanted to discuss and not discussing those things he didn’t want to discuss (the idiocy of this “epistemic closure” debate sailed over his plate several times, if memory serves. As did my befuddlement with his recent defenses of Woodrow Wilson). As for me, I think – and certainly feel – that I did a pretty piss-poor job of rebutting various points that have grown even less persuasive as they’ve germinated in my mind (this supposed stranglehold of talk radio on conservatism and the GOP, for example, is just very hard to square with the nomination of John McCain in the last presidential election). I can’t remember the last time I left a conversation with more shoulda-coulda-wouldas (the American translation of l’esprit de l’escalier).
Still, David was at his best: smart, polite, civil to a fault and nimble. For those willing to wade through considerable wonkery, my hunch is that reviews will vary considerably.