What do you think?
Rate this book
Sincerity: How a Moral Ideal Born Five Hundred Years Ago Inspired Religious Wars, Modern Art, Hipster Chic, and the Curious Notion That We All Have Something to Say
People have long been duped by "straight-talking" politicians, confessional talk-show hosts, and fake-earnest advertisers. As sincerity has become suspect, the upright and honest have taken refuge in irony. Yet our struggle for authenticity in back-to-the-woods movements, folksy songwriting, and a craving for plainspoken presidential candidates
betrays our longing for the holy grail of sincerity.
Bringing deep historical perspective and a brilliant contemporary spin to Lionel Trilling's 1972 Sincerity and Authenticity, R. Jay Magill Jr. argues that we can't shake sincerity's deep theological past, emotional resonance, and the sense of conscience it has carved in the Western soul. From Protestant theology to paintings by crazy people, from French satire to the anti-hipster movement, Magill navigates history, religion, art, and politics to create a portrait of an ideal that, despite its abuse, remains a strange magnetic north in our secular moral compass.
betrays our longing for the holy grail of sincerity.
Bringing deep historical perspective and a brilliant contemporary spin to Lionel Trilling's 1972 Sincerity and Authenticity, R. Jay Magill Jr. argues that we can't shake sincerity's deep theological past, emotional resonance, and the sense of conscience it has carved in the Western soul. From Protestant theology to paintings by crazy people, from French satire to the anti-hipster movement, Magill navigates history, religion, art, and politics to create a portrait of an ideal that, despite its abuse, remains a strange magnetic north in our secular moral compass.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published July 16, 2012
About the author
R. Jay Magill Jr.
3 books4 followersR. Jay Magill, Jr. is an independent scholar living in Berlin, where he works as a writer, editor, translator, and a host of a radio program on NPR Worldwide. He is the author of Chic Ironic Bitterness, published in 2007, and Sincerity: How A Moral Ideal Born Five Hundred Years Ago Inspired Religious Wars, Modern Art, Hipster Chic, and the Curious Notion that We ALL Have Something to Say (No Matter How Dull), published by W.W. Norton in July 2012.
Magill holds a doctorate in American Studies from the University of Hamburg and served as as staff writer and eventually executive editor of the National Magazine Award- winning DoubleTake Magazine from 1999 to 2005, during which time he was also a teaching fellow at Harvard University. Magill has written for, among other publications, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Atlantic Monthly, Foreign Policy, American Prospect, Der Spiegel, Boston Globe, and Print. As an illustrator he has drawn political cartoons and caricatures for a variety of periodicals, including The Believer, and since 2005 he has been a staff illustrator at the political bimonthly The American Interest. Since 2008 has been the editor of the Berlin Journal.
Magill holds a doctorate in American Studies from the University of Hamburg and served as as staff writer and eventually executive editor of the National Magazine Award- winning DoubleTake Magazine from 1999 to 2005, during which time he was also a teaching fellow at Harvard University. Magill has written for, among other publications, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Atlantic Monthly, Foreign Policy, American Prospect, Der Spiegel, Boston Globe, and Print. As an illustrator he has drawn political cartoons and caricatures for a variety of periodicals, including The Believer, and since 2005 he has been a staff illustrator at the political bimonthly The American Interest. Since 2008 has been the editor of the Berlin Journal.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
No one has reviewed this book yet.