Today’s New York Times has fingered the key node of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy (VRWC). The key node is . . . drum roll please. . . Leo Strauss. Surprise, surprise.
The author, James Atlas, does a less bad job than other writers (notably the Times’ Brent Staples back in 1995) in characterizing Strauss. (If memory serves, it was a positive Times review by Atlas that helped launch Bloom’s Closing of the American Mind toward the best-seller list back in 1987.) But there are the usual crudities and mis-identifications in the piece. It is worth reading for its unintentional hilarity.
There is a photo of Harry and Marjorie Jaffa in their tandem bike from 1970 on the jump page (not avilable online however); apparently a file photo from a 1973 Times story on Strauss.
In other Times news, there is a terrific recipe for braised pork shoulder in the magazine this week.
The piece is actually riddled with errors. I may point them all out over at the Remedy. It’s better than Staples, to be sure, but then anything would be.
One clarification, however: It was Christopher Lemann-Haupt whose positive review in the Times helped launch Closing. Atlas wrote a long piece on Bloom for the Times magazine well after Closing had become a phenomenon. It was pretty good. It’s amazing how much basic information Atlas has forgotten.