What the Death of the Canon Has Led To (A Professor’s Harrumph)

“Now the kids who were kids when the Western canon went on trial and received summary justice are working the levers of culture. They are the editors and the reviewers and the arts writers … Even the most august publications and broadcasts no longer attempt to shape taste. They merely seek to reflect it. They hold the cultural mirror up to the reader … Narcissus looks into the book review and finds it good.”