Book Review

Family North Carolina Magazine—September/October 2008

by R. Matthew Lytle, Ph.D.

George Will's America

George F. Will. One Man’s America: The Pleasures and Provocations of Our Singular Nation. New York: Crown Forum, 2008. Pp. 384. $26.95.

George Will knows a lot. He knows a lot about his field and a lot of other things. Will is equally conversant with matters of public policy, philosophy, physics, history, and—what is probably his real passion— baseball. Along with encyclopedic knowledge, Will brings along a real talent with words. His mastery of the English language makes reading what could be dry material surprisingly enjoyable. Will’s ability to turn a phrase is evident in sentences like this: “Welcome to the National Football League, a cultural artifact that causes thinkers to commit sociology” (272). One Man’s America is a sheer joy to read.

One Man’s America is a collection of Will’s columns from the last few years, covering many current events and publications. In this collection, Will’s combination of wit and exuberance make his style somewhat of a cross between G. K. Chesterton and Charles Kuralt. He successfully mixes almost poetic prose with a childlike fascination with all things American. But he is too smart to let this fascination turn into blind admiration, as the book’s subtitle reveals; Will gives equal time to both “the pleasures and provocations of our singular nation.”

While America is a collection of columns that discuss a variety of topics, it nonetheless presents Will’s world (and even national) view, a worldview that is for the most part staunchly conservative in the Buckleyan sense. Because of this, Will holds to what can be called critical conservatism. That is, he does not take any of the central tenets of conservatism for granted. He is quick to call out conservative leaders and citizens when they have perpetrated a wrong (as with uncritical praise of Reaganism, 151–54).

Perhaps the greatest strength Will possesses is his ability to apply nearly impeccable common sense to any situation. He has a real talent for looking past the surface of a circumstance and point out various absurdities with brilliant clarity. Offering critiques of policies and worldviews, Will’s analysis is often ironically funny, shedding light on what is not obvious, but should be. One such example is Will’s critique of what he calls “feel-good indulgence[s] for an era of energy abundance,” where people buy politically correct products to make themselves feel better about their own energy consumption. Will writes concerning the politically correct Ben & Jerry’s ice cream:

“Made in a factory that depends on electricity-guzzling refrigeration, a gallon of ice cream requires four gallons of milk. … And the cow consumes lots of water plus three pounds of grain and hay, which is produced with tractor fuel, chemical fertilizers, herbicides, and insecticides, and is transported with truck or train fuel (173).”

While Will whimsically dissects bad policy and bad logic, America is not all whimsy. Indeed, in a section called “Wonderings,” Will discusses cosmology and other similar topics. Here, Will’s writing is permeated with a near fatalism leaning toward despair. His belief that the universe came to be through evolutionary forces (and will end in the same way) betrays a dim and even fatalistic view of the universe. Instead of a designed universe, Will seems happy to chalk up the anthropic principle to chance. Because, of this, Will repeatedly asserts that the earth, and ultimately the universe, will ultimately end in intolerable heat or extreme cold. There really is no difference as far as Will is concerned. Either ending, according to Will, is sure to be blissfully unaware of the humanity that marvels at its wonders.

In the end, Will’s columns present an America that is worthy of both wide-eyed wonder and cringing embarrassment. His love for this “singular nation” is evident, and it reminds the reader that this is still a great nation. It also reminds the reader that there is still much room for improvement. Fortunately, such improvement is not only possible, but it rests in the hands of the readers themselves. All it takes is involvement, be it through personal acts of heroism such as raising those with special needs (261–65, 365–66), serving in war (95–97), or simply calling out dangerous thinking. There is, however, another avenue for affecting change—every citizen of this “singular nation” can add his or her voice by heading to the polls whenever they are open. When this happens, this nation becomes more than One Man’s America.

R. Matthew Lytle is director of research for the North Carolina Family Policy Council.