This morning we conclude our preview of the new (Winter) issue of the Claremont Review of Books. The CRB works eloquently in every issue to further the mission of the Claremont Institute to restore the founding principles of the United States to their rightful place in our national life. In our preview of the new issue I have necessarily passed over several outstanding essays and reviews. Subscribe at the price of $19.95 by clicking on Subscription Services at the link, get immediate online access thrown in for free and read the whole thing.
I should add a final if obvious thought as our quarterly CRB series draws to a close. If you enjoy reading reviews on a wide array of subjects including biography, history, and political philosophy and if you, like me, turn to the book reviews in the magazines you read first, the CRB is the magazine for you. It’s all back of the book all the time. Who could ask for anything more?
Our friends at the CRB have let me exceed my quota of three pieces to advance our studies this week. Today we feature the fifth of the five pieces I asked the editors to let us bring to your attention. As the reward for our labors, we call on Joseph Epstein to answer the pointed question, why P.G. Wodehouse? Epstein is a man of many literary parts, one of which is our foremost living essayist. He answers the Wodehouse question in “Frivolous, empty, and perfectly delightful,” or what I would like to think of as the critique of pure comedy. Enjoy.
Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.