Editor's Desk, by Robert James Bidinotto
by Robert James BidinottoA thriller.
That term applies generally to this issue of The New Individualist and especially to the cover feature—my interview with thriller novelist Vince Flynn. The #1 New York Times best-selling master of high-stakes political intrigue, his insights into modern terrorism have made his novels must reading in military, political, and intelligence circles. Vince is also a true individualist, simultaneously Politically incorrect but genuinely a nice guy. I had a great time at the interview, and you’ll have a great time reading it.
But Vince is not the only individualist maverick you’ll meet this month. There’s cartoonist Bosch Fawstin, whose new anti-Jihadist graphic novel is poised to set off a firestorm of controversy. Remember, you read about him here first, thanks to entertainment editor Robert L. Jones’s charming (and fully illustrated) profile. Then there’s author and former defense official Jed Babbin, who minces no words about our nation’s enemies in a TNI interview with James Joyner. James also reviews Babbin’s latest book, In the Words of Our Enemies—a sobering compendium of anti-American statements from the global axis of evil.
All that would provide most readers enough thrills for a month, but we’re not done.
Individualism is often counterpoised with conservatism; but senior editor Roger Donway considers himself to be a “Tory Individualist,” and to define himself, he draws from both intellectual wellsprings in his “Private I” column. Roger also ponders “the future of conservatism” in his review of Charles Dunn’s recent book of that name. Meanwhile, business editor Jack Criss bluntly challenges the pro-business credentials of today’s conservatives in his own monthly column.
Jonah Goldberg is topping the bestseller charts with his provocative new book Liberal Fascism—and in his outstanding review, regular contributor Ed Driscoll explains why Goldberg’s thesis has sent the left into apoplectic shock.
A more sedate but no less insightful book is Envy by Joseph Epstein. What is the nature of the vice that Shakespeare labeled “the green sickness”? Epstein offers his diagnosis—and our reviewer, newcomer Bradley Doucet, reports all about it.
Wretchedly afflicted with the fatal virus of postmodernism, the denizens of Hollywood simply cannot seem to abide a real hero. Our Robert Jones reports that in the film Beowulf, their target is Western civ’s seminal epic hero, whose stature is undermined by intrusive satire and, well, incompetent story-telling. By Robert’s account, I gather this is less Beowulf than Conan the Barbarian. Read the review, avoid the movie.
I’ve received an outpouring of letters, most of them indignant (samples follow), as a result of last month’s highly critical cover feature about Congressman Ron Paul, and our spoof cover image. It’s clear that many readers were not persuaded by the piece, to put it mildly, and that the humor of the cover eluded them. So, why did I run a critical article about a man whom many of our readers admire? I explain in my editorial “Soliloquy.” Next month, we’ll devote quite a few pages to your responses to the piece—and to the political ideas that Rep. Paul has brought to the national stage. You truly won’t want to miss the issue. It’ll be another thriller.