John Podhoretz has been the editor of Commentary since 2009. John’s father, Norman Podhoretz, was the editor of Commentary for 35 years, from 1960 to 1995. He made his name at the magazine and made history with it. In view of his death last week, Commentary has sent out a selection of the best of NP from the magazine with this message:
Throughout more than six decades, Norman Podhoretz wrote nearly 150 articles for COMMENTARY. With unparalleled clarity and moral courage, he wrote on an overwhelming range of issues including literary excellence, America’s place in the world, the revolutionary left, anti-Semitism, Israel’s defense, and much more.
From COMMENTARY’s archives, we’ve selected 15 of Norman’s essential articles to share with you. In this case, however, the process of selection relies on a necessary fiction as it implies that Norman ever wrote anything less than essential. He did not. Below, nevertheless, are 15 of Norman’s most important articles, beginning with his first contribution to the magazine. Read and enjoy.
Here are the 15 essays, some of which were incorporated into his books, which, like the essays, remain essential reading:
A review of “The Natural, by Bernard Malamud” (March 1953)
A review of “The Adventures of Augie March, by Saul Bellow“ (October 1953)
“My Negro Problem—And Ours” (February 1963)
“Hannah Arendt on Eichmann: A Study in the Perversity of Brilliance” (September 1963)
“A Certain Anxiety” (August 1971)
“Making the World Safe for Communism” (April 1976)
“The Abandonment of Israel” (July 1976)
“The Present Danger” (March 1980)
“J’Accuse” (September 1982)
“An Open Letter to Milan Kundera” (October 1984)
“The Hate That Dare Not Speak Its Name” (November 1986)
“Buchanan and the Conservative Crackup” (May 1992)
“My War With Allen Ginsberg” (August 1997)
“Intifada II: Death of an Illusion?” (December 2000)
“World War IV: How It Started, What It Means, and Why We Have to Win” (September 2004)
