Out on a limb Selected writing, 1989-2021

Sixty essays from Sullivan (Virtually Normal), former editor of the New Republic, are collected in this frank critique of America's social and political culture. The pieces, which come from the New Republic, the New York Times and New York magazine, among other publications, are organized chronologically. "The Princess Bride," from 1997, studies the phenomenon of Princess Diana's fame, while 2007's "Goodbye to All That: Why Obama Matters" sees Sullivan arguing that the case for an Obama presidency "has less to do with him than with the moment he is meeting." "Why I Blog," from 2008, meanwhile, takes a look at Sullivan's early dabbling with online journalism, wherein he found blogging an "exhilarating literary liberation," and 2016's "Democracies End When They Are Too Democratic" uses Plato's Republic to study Trump's presidency. The author takes provocative views on such topics as campus culture (which he admonishes for turning "away from liberal education... toward the imperatives of an identity-based 'social justice' movement") and the concept of hate crimes (he's wary of them as "an oddly biased category")--and readers across the political spectrum will find themselves under fire. Fans of Sullivan's work are sure to enjoy having his intellectual curiosity and impassioned prose collected in one place. (Aug.)

The veteran journalist collects his controversial views on sex, religion, politics, and plagues. Sullivan, whose essays, reviews, articles, and blog posts have appeared in the New Republic (where he was an editor), the New York Times, New York magazine, and the Weekly Dish newsletter, gathers 60 pieces from the past three decades that serve as both a chronicle of his life and a record of significant transformations in American culture. Describing himself as having "a querulous, insistent curiosity that sometimes relishes the hostility it often provokes," Sullivan is not surprised to have incited strong responses: "An essay insisting on the biological roots of masculinity enraged some feminists; my opposition to 'hate crime' legislation maddened my fellow gays; my account of the moment AIDS in America no longer qualified as a plague was denounced." His attack on the use of torture by the Bush administration infuriated the right, just as his attack on critical race and gender theory incensed the left. As a gay man, Sullivan has lived through a sea change in attitudes about homosexuality and gender, from grudging allowances for domestic partnerships to the legalization of gay marriage. His own marriage, in 2007, seemed momentous. With mixed feelings, he observes the erosion of any "single gay identity, let alone a single look or style or culture." He argues that "distinctive gayness" was "integral" to gay identity. "It helped define us not only to the world but also to ourselves," he writes. "Letting go is as hard as it is liberating, as saddening as it is invigorating." Testosterone therapy, which he began in 2000 as a result of being HIV-positive, made him viscerally aware of the surge of energy, aggression, lust, and anger that resulted from what he called the "He Hormone." Other pieces reveal Sullivan's thoughts on Christianity, the death of his beloved beagle, Princess Diana as a cultural icon, Obama as a beacon of hope, and, most recently, Covid-19. Trenchant observations from an influential journalist. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.