November 11, 2005

The Broken Ladder

Philip Rieff's Sacred Order/Social Order, Volume 1: My Life Among the Deathworks (forthcoming from the University of Virginia Press in January) is structured around 39 paintings and other artworks. Mr. Rieff believes that these works all reflect, in one way or another, the agony of the decay of the old structures of religious authority (what he calls "the second world") and the birth pangs of the new "anti-culture," in which there is little regard for authority, and the self is oriented

Print Subscription

Digital Subscription

Already have an account? Log In Now.