368 polities squint-eyed,a defect inaradicalmagazine?Foranother, I don'tknowwhatcontributionstometropolitanculturegive Barettheauthoritytospeakinitsnamewithso excathedra anair,butIdoknowthathisexcommunicationproducesan odfeelinginonewhoforsometwentyyearshasbeenactive invariousrealmsofthecity'sintelectuallife,includingsix yearsasaneditorof PartisanReview itself. (Ihavemyself sometmi esbeenguiltyofanurbansnobbishnesstowards"the provinces"—asnobbishnesswhichissimplyaformofpro- vincialism—but I haveneverachievedthesublimityof Baret'surbanism.)Andforathird,Barret'stiradehardly seemscalculatedtocreatethatsenseofcommunitywhose lackherightlydeploresinNewYorkintelectuallife. But,ofcourse,hispointisthat ifsuchacommunity did exist,thenPOLITICSwouldfinditselfexcluded. In a word, a properlyhomogeneous"NewYorkintelectualatmosphere" wouldfreezeoutalientendencies.Excludingthe"alien"is typicaloftotalitarianculture.Barret'smodeofcriticismso closelyresemblesthatofthe NewMasses, asthecrudityand intemperanceofhisstylesostronglyrecallsthatmagazine's polemicaltone,astosuggestthatPR'spresentofensive againstStalinism—thesoleremnantofitsformerpolitical partisanshipis of thepot-and-ketlevariety. Itsrecent editorialonthe"liberalfifth-column"—whichalsocamefrom Barrett'spenisanothercaseinpoint:itssimpleblack-andwhitepattern,itssubstitutionofshrilabuseforanalysiswould havefittedintoPM'seditorialpage,withthesinglesubstitutionoftheKremlinfortheU.S.StateDepartment.Still anotherrecentinstancewasthepersonalattackonPaulGoodman,undertheguiseofabookreview,inwhich,withthat lackofblusterthatisthemarkoftheauthenticNewYorker, Barretdescribestheauthorheisreviewingas"anintelectual adventurerandplayboy"who"debasesandsensationalizes" Freudiansexualtheories;allthisintwoflipparagraphs,no evidencegiven,noarguments,simply. . .excommunication. PerhapsBarrettisrightafterall. If thisisreally"the NewYorkintelectualatmosphere,"IthinkIshouldfindthe airclearerandthecompanybeteramongthegrizzlybears ofOklahoma. BACKISSUES •Mostbackissuesarestillavailable,at25ca copy(35cforissuesfromMarch,1946on). •Setsofallissuesstillinprint(27)uptothis onemaybehadfor$7,postpaid. •Specialbundleoffer:7issuesfor$1(Nos.3,4, 10,16,18,28,and30).Theseissuescontainsuch much-discussedarticlesasC.WrightMills'"The IntelectualinSociety";KurtList's"TheMusicof SovietRussia";GeorgeOrwel's"TheEthicsofthe DetectiveStory";PaulGoodman's"ThePolitical MeaningofsomeRecentRevisionsofFreud"; EthelGoldwater's"TheIndependentWoman"; andAntonCiliga's"ATalkwithLenininStalin's Prison." •ThetwoissuescontainingDwightMacdonald's "TheRootIsMan"(AprilandJuly,1946)are availableat50cforboth. •NOTETOLIBRARIESANDCOLLECTORS: Wehavetwocompletesetsof"Politics"stillon hand;brandnewcondition;Vol.1,No.1.(Febru- ary,1944)throughthepresentissue(Vol.3,No. Bibliotkà@fieBriend033 issues'postpaid. politics a 4razonab1g 3Entazffift Givesrootstotheradical Enlightensthebenighted Irritatestheirritable Suggeststhingstothesuggestible Doessomethingforpracticalyeveryone fiatg15Po.ntefeitpaut a$uti te politics? SpecialChristmasRate Twoormorefull-yearsubscriptionsat$3 each(insteadof$3.50,theregularrate). Youmayincludeyourownrenewal,from wheneveritexpires. Evert,ManHisOwnSantaClans polities, 45AstorPlace,NewYork3,N. Y. Enclosedis$. Pleaseenterthefolowing giftsubs,tobeginwiththe i s s u e . Indicateifoneofthemisyourrenewal. NAME ADDRESS CITYU N I T STATE NAME ADDRESS CITYU N I T STATE NAME ADDRESS CITYU N I T STATE NAME ADDRESS CITYU N I T STATE CICheckhereifyouwantustosendgiftcards. Mynameandaddressis: pane
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