Alexis de Tocqueville(1805-1859) was a French politician and
theorist. He wroteDemocracy in Americaafter visiting the United
States during which he observed various elements of the prison
system. He continued on to serve in the French parliament and also
wrote many works, includingThe Old Regime and the Revolution.
Daniel J. Boorstinwas the author ofThe Americans, a trilogy (The
Colonial Experience, The National Experience,andThe Democratic
Experience)that won the Francis Parkman Prize, the Bancroft Prize,
and the Pulitzer Prize. In 1989, he received the National Book
Award for lifetime contribution to literature. He was the director
of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, and for
twelve years served as the Librarian of Congress. He died in 2004.
"No better study of a nation's institutions and culture than
Tocqueville's Democracy in America has ever been written by a
foreign observer; none perhaps as good."
--The New York Times
Praise for the work of Joseph Epstein:
"Epstein is one of the premier contemporary American
essayists...What is so remarkable about Epstein as an essay writer
is that he'll begin a discussion at some personal place...and end
up in another place relevant to us all. He enjoys making language
work, not making it jump through hoops for show." --Booklist
"Joseph Epstein is an essayist in the brilliant tradition of
Charles Lamb. He moves so effortlessly from the amusingly personal
to the broadly philosophical that it takes a moment before you
realize how far out into the intellectual cosmos you've been
taken."
--Tom Wolfe
"Joseph Epstein's essays no more need his identifying byline than
Van Gogh's paintings need his signature. Epstein's style--call it
learned whimsy--is unmistakable; for Epstein addicts,
indispensable."
--George Will
"Joseph Epstein is the liveliest, most erudite and engaging
essayist we have." --James Atlas
"If Epstein's ultimate ancestor is Montaigne, his more immediate
master is Mencken. Like Mencken, he has fashioned a style that
successfully combines elegance and even bookishness with
street-smart colloquial directness. And there is nothing remote or
aloof about him."
--John Gross, Chicago Tribune
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