The Gloomsayer: Neo-Conservatism the Autobiography of an Idea

This is an oddly depressing book. The oddity has little to do with its allegiances, more to do with its tone, its view of what is worth writing and thinking about, and its author’s conception of the human condition. It is also stunningly boring. Part of the problem, though the smaller part, is that Kristol is a dreadful writer. Kristol says of himself that he abandoned his youthful hopes for a career as a novelist after he wrote a tome in “a style that was a bastard mixture of Sau...