Generation of Vipers

by Philip Wylie

Overview

Perhaps the most vitriolic attack ever launched on the American way of living - from politicians to professors to businessmen to Mom to sexual mores to religion - Generation of Vipers - ranks with the works of De Tocqueville and Emerson in defining the American character and malaise.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781564788634
Publisher:	Deep Vellum Publishing
Publication date:	09/01/1996
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	513 KB

About the Author

Philip Wylie (1902–1971) was born in Massachusetts and raised in Monclair, New Jersey. He wrote novels, screenplays, short stories, and works of nonfiction: these included newspaper columns, social criticism, and essays for periodicals like Harper’s Magazine, Saturday Evening Post, and Playboy. His interest in science—he was peripherally involved in the creation of the Atomic Energy Commission—paired with an interest in psychology led him to write often in the genre of science fiction. More than nine movies were made from his novels or stories, including When Worlds Collide; his work for the screen included co-writing Island of Lost Souls for Paramount. His most notorious book, a scathing collection of essays on 1940s American culture titled Generation of Vipers, is also available from Dalkey Archive Press.

Editorial Reviews

Originally published in 1943, novelist Wylie's jeremiad attacks the complacencies of the American way of life. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

In this 1942 volume, Wylie, one of the founders of The New Yorker, attacks everything imaginable, from politics to religion to mothers. He could give H.L Mencken a run for his money as the most opinionated person of the 20th century. Considering the world hasn't improved much in the last 50 years, much of what he says has great relevance today.

Library Journal

"A Rabelaisian catalogue of sin and moral desuetude...truly a remarkable book." — New York Tribune

From the Publisher