https://pjmedia.com/rogerkimball/2007/11/29/more_on_allan_bloom/feed/PJ Media is a leading news site covering culture, politics, faith, homeland security, and more. Our reporters and columnists provide original, in-depth analysis from a variety of perspectives.en-usSat, 13 Jun 2026 04:45:35 -0400<![CDATA[This year marks the 20th anniversary of Allan Bloom&#8217;s incendiary book The Closing of the American Mind. By some stupendous oversight on the part of the management, I was asked to review the book for The New York Times Book Review. They didn&#8217;t make that sort of mistake again, especially after Bloom&#8217;s book became a number-one bestseller. In fairness to the Times editors, though, they couldn&#8217;t have known that such a peculiar book by a then-obscure professor of philosophy was poised to become important ammunition on (for them) the wrong side of the culture wars. (Nor for that matter could they known that I would do my bit for the cause with books like Tenured Radicals. Indeed, part of the genius of the title of Bloom&#8217;s book was its ambiguity. I remember visiting a liberal friend when I was toting around galley&#8217;s of the book. &#8220;The Closing of the American Mind, eh?&#8221; she said. &#8220;What&#8217;s that about, Reagan&#8217;s America?&#8221; Well, not quite, Virginia, but you see where she was coming from.]]>Thu, 29 Nov 2007 07:10:30 -0500<![CDATA[Roger Kimball]]>https://pjmedia.com/roger-kimball/2007/11/29/more_on_allan_bloom-n114390