A Book Unglued

EDMUND Morris had writer’s block and suffered a breakdown while trying to commit his biography of Ronald Reagan to paper. And a close reading of his Dutch suggests that Morris never emerged from either condition. The book has been misunderstood by those who accuse Morris of succumbing to postmodern solipsism when he cast it as a novel featuring a fictionalized version of Morris observing and interacting with Reagan for 70 years.

This is no postmodernist jape of a biography. If it were, Dutch would be a text worth engaging with and arguing with in an effort to preserve the traditions of biography and history. But engaging with and arguing with Dutch is a little like getting into a quarrel with a high-functioning schizophrenic. Every time you think the schizophrenic is saying something interesting, the madness begins to emerge, and you find yourself trapped by the glittering eye of the Ancient Mariner.

About the Author

John Podhoretz

John Podhoretz is the editor of Commentary.

Featured Tags

EDMUND Morris had writer’s block and suffered a breakdown while trying to commit his biography of Ronald Reagan to paper. And a close reading of his Dutch suggests that Morris never emerged from either condition. The book has been misunderstood by those who accuse Morris of succumbing to postmodern solipsism when he cast it as a novel featuring a fictionalized version of Morris observing and interacting with Reagan for 70 years.

This is no postmodernist jape of a biography. If it were, Dutch would be a text worth engaging with and arguing with in an effort to preserve the traditions of biography and history. But engaging with and arguing with Dutch is a little like getting into a quarrel with a high-functioning schizophrenic. Every time you think the schizophrenic is saying something interesting, the madness begins to emerge, and you find yourself trapped by the glittering eye of the Ancient Mariner.