Word: douthat
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Some of his points ring depressingly true. Douthat cleverly turns sex and academia into a cold calculus: attempts to glean maximum success from minimal effort...
...cynical take on the Core curriculum will cause many a recent Harvard graduate to nod in agreement. Douthat suggests a Columbia-style great books curriculum as an alternative, allowing Harvard undergraduates to gain a traditional, broad-based liberal arts education in lieu of the narrow, overly specific “approaches to knowledge” introduced in esoteric classes like Literature and Arts C-42, “Constructing the Samurai” and Literature and Arts B-31, “The Portrait.” No argument here—undergrads have wasted too much time learning about...
...Douthat should stick with what he knows; Privilege suffers when the focus moves beyond the temporal bounds of its author’s undergraduate career...
Luckily, readers can ignore the rehashed ideology in favor of the thoroughly enjoyable memoir embedded in the book. With his endearing, well-written anecdotes of romantic bumbling and freshman foibles, Douthat produces a fun little gem of narcissism, a pleasant indulgence for author and reader alike...
Douthat’s sharpest observations are reserved for an illuminating chapter on final clubs, chronicling his ultimately unsuccessful punch for the Porcellian. Against all odds, the shy, unconnected Douthat survives two rounds of cuts, allowing him access to cocktail parties at the vast estates of well-endowed club alumni...