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Chic Ironic Bitterness
A brilliant and timely reflection on irony in contemporary American culture
“This book is a powerful and persuasive defense of sophisticated irony and subtle humor that contributes to the possibility of a genuine civic trust and democratic life. R. Jay Magill deserves our congratulations for a superb job!”
—Cornel West, University Professor, Princeton University
“A well-written, well-argued assessment of the importance of irony in contemporary American social life, along with the nature of recent misguided attacks and, happily, a deep conviction that irony is too important in our lives to succumb. The book reflects wide reading, varied experience, and real analytical prowess.”
—Peter Stearns, Provost, George Mason University
“Somehow, Americans—a pragmatic and colloquial lot, for the most part—are now supposed to speak the Word, without ironic embellishment, in order to rebuild the civic culture. So irony’s critics decide it has become ‘worthy of moral condemnation.’ Magill pushes back against this new conventional wisdom, eloquently defending a much livelier American sensibility than the many apologists for a somber ‘civic culture’ could ever acknowledge."
—William Chaloupka, Chair and Professor, Department of Political Science, Colorado State University
The events of 9/11 had many pundits on the left and right scrambling to declare an end to the Age of Irony. But six years on, we're as ironic as ever. From The Simpsons and Borat to The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, the ironic worldview measures out a certain cosmopolitan distance, keeping hypocrisy and threats to personal integrity at bay.
Chic Ironic Bitterness is a defense of this detachment, an attitude that helps us preserve values such as authenticity, sincerity, and seriousness that might otherwise be lost in a world filled with spin, marketing, and jargon. And it is an effective counterweight to the prevailing conservative view that irony is the first step toward cynicism and the breakdown of Western culture.
R. Jay Magill, Jr., is a writer and illustrator whose work has appeared in American Prospect, American Interest, Atlantic Monthly, Foreign Policy, International Herald Tribune, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Print, among other periodicals and books. A former Harvard Teaching Fellow and Executive Editor of DoubleTake, he holds a Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of Hamburg in Germany. This is his first book.
“This book is a powerful and persuasive defense of sophisticated irony and subtle humor that contributes to the possibility of a genuine civic trust and democratic life. R. Jay Magill deserves our congratulations for a superb job!”
—Cornel West, University Professor, Princeton University
“A well-written, well-argued assessment of the importance of irony in contemporary American social life, along with the nature of recent misguided attacks and, happily, a deep conviction that irony is too important in our lives to succumb. The book reflects wide reading, varied experience, and real analytical prowess.”
—Peter Stearns, Provost, George Mason University
“Somehow, Americans—a pragmatic and colloquial lot, for the most part—are now supposed to speak the Word, without ironic embellishment, in order to rebuild the civic culture. So irony’s critics decide it has become ‘worthy of moral condemnation.’ Magill pushes back against this new conventional wisdom, eloquently defending a much livelier American sensibility than the many apologists for a somber ‘civic culture’ could ever acknowledge."
—William Chaloupka, Chair and Professor, Department of Political Science, Colorado State University
The events of 9/11 had many pundits on the left and right scrambling to declare an end to the Age of Irony. But six years on, we're as ironic as ever. From The Simpsons and Borat to The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, the ironic worldview measures out a certain cosmopolitan distance, keeping hypocrisy and threats to personal integrity at bay.
Chic Ironic Bitterness is a defense of this detachment, an attitude that helps us preserve values such as authenticity, sincerity, and seriousness that might otherwise be lost in a world filled with spin, marketing, and jargon. And it is an effective counterweight to the prevailing conservative view that irony is the first step toward cynicism and the breakdown of Western culture.
R. Jay Magill, Jr., is a writer and illustrator whose work has appeared in American Prospect, American Interest, Atlantic Monthly, Foreign Policy, International Herald Tribune, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Print, among other periodicals and books. A former Harvard Teaching Fellow and Executive Editor of DoubleTake, he holds a Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of Hamburg in Germany. This is his first book.
- GenresNonfiction
296 pages, Hardcover
First published September 12, 2007
1 person is currently reading
44 people want to read
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.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
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September 23, 2023I wonder what happened after 2007, seemed like only good things
January 5, 2008
A conversational, informal bit of philosophy relating current hipster ironicism with centuries of Protestant and Romantic thought. Cheers to: the ;-) on the spine at the head of the title and also closing the manuscript. Jeers to: Ellen Goodman is a conservative commentator? Really? Or maybe that was a bit of irony!
November 4, 2008
more like perpetually trying to read this, i am removing it frmo my list and retiring the effort. for now.
December 30, 2008
Best book ever!!! ;-)
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews