Category Archives: Memoir

The Man from Dothan

Posted on April 17, 2018 by Abigail

The Man from Dothan In Genesis, the first book of the Bible, there is a brief but indispensable walk-on part played by a figure of whom we learn only that he is “from Dothan.” He guides young Joseph to Dothan … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, beauty, Bible, Biblical God, Childhood, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Freedom, Friendship, glitterati, Guilt and Innocence, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, ID, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Immortality, Institutional Power, Jews, Judaism, Law, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Masculinity, master/slave relation, Memoir, memory, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, Mortality, motherhood, Past and Future, Philosophy, Political Movements, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Race, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, scientism, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, slave, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, Suffering, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Theology, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged 7 lean years, archives, Authenticity, Bible, brilliant career, Columbia class of 1925, covenant with God, cultural celebrity, dream interpretation, Egyptian bondage, false accusations, false imprisonment, father/daughter relationship, filial piety, friends of youth, Genesis, God-intoxicated, Henry M. Rosenthal, honor, integrity, intellectual memoir, Jewish existence, Jewish fear, Jewish self-contempt, Jewish vocation, Joseph in Egypt, Joseph revealed, Joseph's brothers, Joseph's coat of many colors, Lionel Trilling, male friendship, Man from Dothan, masked identity, Midianites, Modernity, Moses, oldest hatred, Passover story, paternal last will, Pharaoh's dreams, Potiphar, Potiphar's house, Potiphar's wife, precognitive dreams, Public Intellectual, sibling rivalry, Sinaitic covenant, Ten Commandments, The class genius, The Trilling correspondence, Trilling's students, Ur-story, writer's block | 4 Comments

Woman’s Search for Meaning

Posted on April 3, 2018 by Abigail

Woman’s Search for Meaning I’ve talked two friends out of committing suicide. Don’t recall exactly what I said, but I do know what went into my general approach. First, I ignored their existential/metaphysical pronouncements, eloquent as they were. Life, they … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, beauty, Chivalry, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, cults, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, Gnosticism, Guilt and Innocence, Health, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, ID, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Institutional Power, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Masculinity, master/slave relation, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, Mortality, Mysticism, non-violence, novels, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Peace, Philosophy, Poetry, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, Romanticism, scientism, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, slave, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, Sociobiology, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, status of women, Suffering, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Theology, Time, twenty-first century, victimhood, victims, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged Abigail L. Rosenthal's "A Good Look at Evil", absurdity, alternative healing, betrayal of trust, canceled engagements, canceled speech, chance happenings, charlatan healers, clues to the plot, Coincidences, contemplating suicide, correct diagnosis, crisis of meaning, desecration, desecration of woman, despair, dislocation, distance healing, Divine interventions, divine/human partnership, existential anxiety, expectations frustrated, focused mind, friendship, God as Co-Author, hopeful signals, indifferent world, invisible crisis, invisible suffering, life crisis, living one’s story, loss of grip, loss of meaning, meaningful life, meaningless world, mental healing, mental labyrinth, metaphysical materialism, metaphysics, mind and body, mind and matter, Mind Control, MRI's, negative energy, neuropathy treatment, Nor'easter, novelistic lives, ordinary miracles, personal defeat, power outage, precognition, preserving self image, Providential happenings, public speaking, quieted mind, Raiki healing, reorientation, rescheduling, saving the story, search for meaning, self image, sense of self, senselessness, small defeats, speaking events, spiritual malpractice, spiritual seduction, spiritual temptation, suicidal thoughts, suicide, suicide prevention, the right name, Thomas Hardy's Tess of The d'Urbervilles, travel plans, true north, Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning, world out of joint | 4 Comments

“How I Got to be a Person Whose Whole Life is Lived in Cliches”

Posted on March 27, 2018 by Abigail

“How I Got to be a Person Whose Whole Life is Lived in Cliches” The Rabbis inveigh against gossip. Since a lost reputation is almost as hard to recover as a lost life, they deem it equivalent to a capital … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, American Politics, Anthropology, Art of Living, Autonomy, beauty, Biblical God, Childhood, Chivalry, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Gnosticism, Guilt and Innocence, Health, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, ID, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Immortality, Institutional Power, Jews, Journalism, Judaism, Law, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Masculinity, master/slave relation, Memoir, memory, Messianic Age, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, Mortality, motherhood, non-violence, novels, Ontology, Oppression, pacifism, Past and Future, Peace, Philosophy, Poetry, Political, Political Movements, politics, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, radicalism, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, scientism, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, slave, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, Sociobiology, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, status of women, Suffering, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Theology, Time, TV, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged "the evil tongue", a great lady, academic firing, academic hearings, academic reinstatement, ancient customs, Aristotle's Laws of Thought, Aristotle's Metaphysics, Barbara Seaman's Free and Female, Barbara Seaman's The Doctors’ Case Against the Pill, betting on horse race, Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique, cocktails in the clouds, covering womens' hair, editor at Dutton, Famous feminists, feminist allies, feminist ambiguities, feminist data, feminist heaven, feminist politics, founding mothers, glittering birthday party, gossip, Hans Jonas's Memoirs, horse racing, Identity and Excluded Middle, influential figures, Jewish high holidays, late guest, Law of Contradiction, leading feminist, Leo Strauss, life in cliches, literary gossip, lost reputation, Loyalty, malicious tale bearing, moral ambiguities, New York restaurants, novelistic lives, novels and life, opinion shapers, orthodox Bar Mitzvah, orthodox hair covering, Peggy Brooks, philosophical gossip, philosophical journals, philosophy and religion, projection, public intellectuals, rabbinical prohibitions, rabbinical rulings, rabbis, second wave feminism, segregation of women, standing by friends, stereotyping, story-like lives, supporting the cause, supportive husband, synagogue, The Monist, the narrative view, Top of the Sixes, unexamined assumptions, welcoming the stranger, women in the balcony | Leave a comment

“The Man Behind the Curtain”

Posted on March 20, 2018 by Abigail

“The Man Behind the Curtain” As a sometime student of the mechanics of mind control, I’ve been aware of the ways in which, nowadays, well-intentioned people of diverse climes and views must walk in fear of being denounced. For what? … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, American Politics, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, beauty, bureaucracy, Chivalry, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, cults, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Gnosticism, Guilt and Innocence, Hegel, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, ID, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Institutional Power, Journalism, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Masculinity, master/slave relation, Memoir, memory, Messianic Age, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, Mortality, novels, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Phenomenology of Mind, Philosophy, Poetry, Political, Political Movements, politics, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Race, radicalism, Reductionism, relationships, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, scientism, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, Sociobiology, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, status of women, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged "the philosophy of praxis", Albert Camus, Andrey Vyshinsky, Antonio Gramsci’s Prison Notebooks, bigotry, breaking the rules, coerced confessions, counter-revolutionary, diversity, equality and justice, established disciplines, former believers, French philosopher, future of humanity, G. W. F. Hegel's Reason in History, G.W.F. Hegel, good intentions, Great Soviet Experiment, guilty mind, haters, hegemony, human nature, inner life, intellectual disciplines, intellectuals and history, man on horseback, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Merleau-Ponty's Humanism and Terror, Mind Control, Moscow Trials, Napoleon, objective guilt, objective psychology, oppressed group, oppressor and oppressed, outward life, political denunciation, power games, preparations for revolution, revolutionary activity, revolutionary aims, revolutionary potential, revolutionary strategy, Richard Wright, Russian revolution, show trials, social stakes, social winners and losers, solitary thinkers, styles of denunciation, subjectivity and objectivity, The God That Failed, true believers, universal brotherhood, utopian visions, virtue signaling, Vyshinsky Trials, world historical figure, zone of intentions, zone of subjectivity | Leave a comment

“Ideas and Real People”

Posted on March 13, 2018 by Abigail

“Ideas and Real People” When I need consolation, when sorrow exerts its hard claims, I turn instinctively to what Plato would call the realm of forms: beautiful things and ideas that are clear and significant. When our friend Leo … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, American Politics, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, beauty, bureaucracy, Childhood, Chivalry, Christianity, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, cults, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Gnosticism, Guilt and Innocence, Health, Hegel, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, ID, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Institutional Power, Jews, Journalism, Judaism, Law, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Masculinity, master, master/slave relation, Memoir, memory, Messianic Age, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, Mortality, Mysticism, nineteenth-century, non-violence, novels, Ontology, Oppression, pacifism, Past and Future, Peace, Phenomenology of Mind, Philosophy, Poetry, Political, politics, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Race, radicalism, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, Romanticism, scientism, secular, Seduction, self-deception, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, Sociobiology, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, status of women, Suffering, Terror, terrorism, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Theology, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged A.J. Ayer, aiming at weak spots, Albert Einstein, Anna Akhmatova, anti-fascist, Antonio Gramsci’s Prison Notebooks, Boris Pasternak’s Dr.Zhivago, British Embassy, British eyes and ears, British Foreign Office, centrality of ideas, Chaim Weizman, classical art, classical bas reliefs, classical serenity, classical statues, clear ideas, communist party, communist politics, communist revolution, completeness, consolation, cultural definition, cultural vulnerability, Culture, culture against itself, culture defined, culture shapers, destroying a culture, dispatches from Washington, Drew Pearson, eternal achievement, extremism, family tree, fear and shame, George Kennan, Grunewald Crucifixion, Hassidic lineage, hegemony, high culture, humanistic culture, intellectual culture, intellectual friendship, intellectual moderation, intellectuals denounced, intellectuals in the 1930’s, intellectuals purged, intellectuals under terror, intelligentsia, interesting man, Isaiah Berlin, Italian civilization, Italian communist, J. L. Austin, Leo Bronstein, liberal culture, life aims, life under tyranny, living for ideas, Lord Halifax, making a difference, Metropolitan Museum, Michael Ignatieff’s Isaiah Berlin: A Life, moral compromise, motorcycle accident, Mussolini’s dictatorship, nuanced diplomacy, opinion shaper, Oxford education, paisley, Party Line, Plato, Plato’s realm of forms, post-communist revolution, power of ideas, Public Intellectual, reading in prison, Riga Latvia, significant ideas, Soviet Union, Stephen Spender, Strasbourg, strategic mind, Stuart Hampshire, sturdy mind, the Russian soul, things of beauty, Tsar’s overthrow, twentieth century intellectuals, tyranny, USSR, utopian delusions, Virginia Woolf, Walter Lippman, war of ideas, Washington rumors, weakness in culture, Winston Churchill, World War II | Leave a comment

My Worst Birthday

Posted on March 6, 2018 by Abigail

My Worst Birthday If we hadn’t begun it the evening before, it would have been even more disastrous. But I was scheduled to have an author photo taken by a professional photographer who does those things, and my dread of … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdism, Action, Alienation, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, beauty, Childhood, Chivalry, Christianity, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Gnosticism, Guilt and Innocence, Health, Heroes, hidden God, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Idolatry, Institutional Power, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Masculinity, Memoir, memory, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, Mortality, Mysticism, Past and Future, Peace, Philosophy, Poetry, Political Movements, politics of ideas, Power, presence, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, Romanticism, secular, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, status of women, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Theology, Time, twenty-first century, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged Abigail L. Rosenthal's "A Good Look at Evil", acts of God, Authenticity, author photo, authorial assignments, bad attitudes, birthday, birthday dinner, caring friends, childhood best friends, compatibility, compatible marriage, country gospel, disciplined callings, disciplined lives, earned miracles, emergency cancellations, expectations, finding the silver lining, French restaurant, frightening consequences, frustrating consequences, frustration, genuine friendships, good attitudes, gospel hymn, happy birthday, happy marriage, health imperative, imagined expectations, inauthenticity, inclement weather, inspiration, Just A Closer Walk With Thee, knee injury, light at the end of the tunnel, living for distraction, looking on the sunny side, lost footing, lowered expectations, Marriage, miracles, motels booked, motels dark, muffled inspiration, neuropathy, neuropathy treatments, Nor'easter, not settling for less, noticing the helps, photo phobia, power outage, prayer guidance, prestige and status, professional photographer, projected plans, projecting worst case, projection, real friends, romantic delusions, romantic hopes, Romantic Love, search for shelter, settling for less, significant other, sincerity, sincerity overrated, slough of despond, speaking enagements, staying in the present, the camera doesn't lie, the luck of the draw, the marriage lottery, the writing rationale, time-servers, true love, trust, trusting the helps, trying to pray, unaffected friendship, unforseen setbacks, variety in friends, wellness imperative, worst birthday, worst case scenario, worthwhile lives | 6 Comments

Collegiality

Posted on February 27, 2018 by Abigail

Collegiality It’s one of the most precious chances life offers: to be a team player, a cooperator in a venture, a fellow worker in a joint work. Nothing could be more fun than this sharing of skilled seriousness. Student … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, American Politics, Anthropology, Art of Living, Autonomy, bureaucracy, Chivalry, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Guilt and Innocence, Health, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history of ideas, ID, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Immortality, Institutional Power, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Martyrdom, Masculinity, master/slave relation, Medieval, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, non-violence, novels, Ontology, Oppression, pacifism, Past and Future, Peace, Phenomenology of Mind, Philosophy, Poetry, Political, Political Movements, politics, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reductionism, relationships, Roles, Romance, scientism, secular, Seduction, self-deception, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, Sociobiology, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, status of women, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Theology, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, victimhood, victims, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged Abigail L. Rosenthal's "A Good Look at Evil", academic colleagues, academic quarrels, allies, anguish of parents, broken friendship, casing the target, children in peril, colleagues, cooperating, deaths of parents, defamatory fictions, determined enemy, divorces, enjoying differences, fellow worker, frightening diagosis, having fun, heartbreak, intellectual struggles, irreparable quarrels, joint work, knowing where to strike, longterm friends, lost friendship, malevolent intentions, objective roles, objective rules, personal struggles, philosophical colleagues, righteous combat, rites of passage, rules of the game, search for truth, senior colleague, shared quest, shared skills, state of grace, striking the vulnerable, student life, targeting a weakness, volleyball, weddings, work projects, young adulthood | Leave a comment

	Abigail on The Man from Dothan
	Judy Dornstreich on The Man from Dothan
	Abigail on The Man from Dothan
	Johan Herrenberg on The Man from Dothan
	Abigail on Woman’s Search for Meanin…

Category Archives: Memoir

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