On Paradise Drive

On Paradise Drive is the title of the new book by David Brooks. Brooks initially made his reputation as a conservative pundit and branched out into pop sociology in his first book, Bobos In Paradise. Since Brooks moved from the Weekly Standard to the New York Times, he seems to me to have neutered himself.
Michael Kinsley reviews Brooks’s new book in tomorrow’s Sunday Times Book Review: “‘On Paradise Drive’: Sociology or shtick?” Kinsley’s piece is the issue’s lengthy lead review, and he devastatingly raises the question whether Brooks wants to be taken seriously in his sociological ventures. Whether or not Brooks wants to be taken seriously, Kinsley’s review makes it difficult to see him as anything much more than a gifted intellectual entertainer.