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Today the classics of the
western canon, written by the proverbial "dead white
men," are cannon fodder in the culture wars. But in the
1950s and 1960s, they were a pop culture phenomenon. The Great
Books of Western Civilization, fifty-four volumes chosen by
intellectuals at the University of Chicago, began as an educational
movement, and evolved into a successful marketing idea. Why
did a million American households buy books by Hippocrates
and Nicomachus from door-to-door salesmen? And how and why
did the great books fall out of fashion?
In "A Great Idea at the Time"
Alex Beam explores the Great Books mania, in an entertaining
and strangely poignant portrait of American popular culture
on the threshold of the television age. Populated with memorable
characters, "A Great Idea at the Time" will leave
readers asking themselves: Have I read Lucretius's "De
Rerum Natura" lately? If not, why not?
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