The Cynical Society
is a study of the political despair and abdication of (individual) responsibility Goldfarb calls cynicism—a central but unexamined aspect of contemporary American political and social life. Goldfarb reveals with vivid strokes how cynicism undermines our capacity to think about society's strengths and weaknesses. Drawing on thinkers from Alexis de Tocqueville to Allan Bloom and on such recent works as
Beloved, Bonfire of the Vanities,
and
Mississippi Burning, The Cynical Society
celebrates cultural pluralism's role in democracy.