A World of Ideas II

by Bill Moyers

Book Overview

Another best-selling round of thought-provoking conversations with 29 men and??women whose dynamic ideas and decisions are defining the present and charting the course of tomorrow's America. B & W... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385416644
• ISBN13: 9780385416641
• Release Date: October 1990
• Publisher: Doubleday Books
• Length: 284 Pages
• Weight: 2.45 lbs.

Customer Reviews

29 heads are better than one

As a companion volume to his PBS series of the early 90s, journalist Bill Moyers published this collection of 29 interviews with intellectuals who contribute their insights on American society and its future. This book is consistently fascinating but the highlights for me were probably historian William Shirer and authors Richard Rodriguez and Toni Morrison. Moyers is skilled at engaging with these thinkers. Speaking soon after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the birth of numerous Eastern European democracies, there is often a note of optimism in these discussions that some sort of awakening has begun to take place in the world. It is disheartening to stand this optimism up against the world situation in 2006, when we are engaged in a truly frightening clash between cultures that appears to be capable of escalating into a truly cataclysmic disaster.

Another Terrific Collection Of Intellectual Conversations!

One certainly has to give Bill Moyers due credit for having many intriguing and innovative ideas. Given the various television series and books he has produced over the last several decades, he is by far one of the most prolific contributors and critics of the American social and cultural scene. This particular book, a sequel to a previous effort, represents another fascinating look at an eclectic collection of seminal thinkers, some two dozen or so academics, statesmen, and luminaries whose thoughts, ideas, and perspectives help the rest of us to better understand and appreciate the power of the world of ideas. I read somewhere that Moyers thought it would be immensely beneficial at this point in the secular history of the republic to have a kind of old-fashioned chautaugua series of public discussions featuring such intellectuals as a way of sparking further discussion and debate about the most basic and yet enduring aspects of democracy itself, and wanted to further the flow of ideas within the public realm. Herein, as with the first marvelous offering, he has succeeded quite marvelously, and what has been rendered for your reading pleasure and edification is worthwhile indeed. In doing so Moyers opens up the possibility for both television (the series was originally a very popular series) as well in printed format to become instruments of more meaningful communication. The intellectuals featured herein range from Ronald Reagan to director Peter Sellars, from medical researcher Jonas Salk to poet Robert Bly, and from novelist Toni Morrison to writer and critic Maxine Hong Kingston. My favorite interview here is with the late writer/historian William Shirer, who proves to be as erudite and provocative as a subject for such discussions as he is as a writer. Many of the discussions center around Moyers' own concerns for the state of the polity, but also range from discussions about personal morality to more family-oriented concerns. This is a lovely book full of thought-provoking conversations with people you would love to have facing you across the living room coffee table. Enjoy!