Things that Matter: Three Decades of Passions, Pastimes, and Politics

Charles Krauthammer

Crown Forum, 2013 - History - 387 pages

From America's preeminent columnist, named by the Financial Times the most influential commentator in the nation, a must-have collection of Charles Krauthammer's essential, timeless writings.

A brilliant stylist known for an uncompromising honesty that challenged conventional wisdom at every turn, Krauthammer dazzled readers for decades with his keen insight into politics and government. His weekly column was a must-read in Washington and across the country. Don't miss the best of Krauthammer's intelligence, erudition and wit collected in one volume.

Readers will find here not only the country's leading conservative thinker offering a pas­sionate defense of limited government, but also a highly independent mind whose views--on feminism, evolution and the death penalty, for example--defy ideological convention. Things That Matter also features several of Krautham­mer's major path-breaking essays--on bioeth­ics, on Jewish destiny and on America's role as the world's superpower--that have pro­foundly influenced the nation's thoughts and policies. And finally, the collection presents a trove of always penetrating, often bemused re­flections on everything from border collies to Halley's Comet, from Woody Allen to Win­ston Churchill, from the punishing pleasures of speed chess to the elegance of the perfectly thrown outfield assist.

With a special, highly autobiographical in­troduction in which Krauthammer reflects on the events that shaped his career and political philosophy, this indispensible chronicle takes the reader on a fascinating journey through the fashions and follies, the tragedies and triumphs, of the last three decades of American life.

Contents

• Introduction: 1
• THE GOOD AND THE GREAT: 19
• Sweet Genius: 25
• Dead White Male 2: 31
• MANNERS: 37
• Dont Touch My Junk: 43
• The Appeal of Ordeal: 49
• PRIDE AND PREJUDICES: 55
• In Defense of the FWord 5: 61
• Krauthammers First Law: 67
• Bush Derangement Syndrome: 74
• From People Power to Polenta: 80
• X: 84
• Natural Childbirth: 87
• The MirrorImage Fallacy: 93
• PASSIONS AND PASTIMES: 99
• Fermat Solved: 105
• The Best Show in Town: 112
• Humbled by the Hayden: 118
• Farewell the New Frontier: 124
• CITIZEN AND STATE: 133
• Constitutionalism: 139
• Going Negative: 145
• viii: 151
• Empathy or Right?: 166
• BODY AND SOUL: 181
• On the Ethics of Embryonic Research: 196
• MAN AND GOD: 209
• Holocaust Museum: 224
• THE JEWISH QUESTION AGAIN: 241
• Borat the Fearful: 248
• Zionism and the Fate of the Jews: 258
• THE GOLDEN AGE: 275
• Cold War Nostalgia: 281
• When Imagination Fails: 288
• The Surge Denied: 296
• From Freedom Agenda to Freedom Doctrine: 302
• THE AGE TO COME: 309
• No Hiding from History: 315
• THREE ESSAYS ON AMERICA: 321
• Democratic Realism 2004: 333
• Decline Is a Choice 2009: 352
• Acknowledgments: 367

About the author

Charles Krauthammer, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, is a syndicated columnist, political commentator and physi-cian. His column is syndicated to 400 news-papers worldwide. He is a nightly panelist on Fox News's Special Report with Bret Baier and a weekly panelist on PBS's Inside Washing-ton. He's a former member of the President's Council on Bioethics and current member of Chess Journalists of America. He lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Things that Matter: Three Decades of Passions, Pastimes, and Politics
• Author: Charles Krauthammer
• Publisher: Crown Forum, 2013
• ISBN: 0385349173, 9780385349178
• Length: 387 pages
• Subjects: History / United States / 20th Century; History / United States / 21st Century; Literary Collections / Essays; Political Science / American Government / General; Political Science / American Government / National; Political Science / Commentary & Opinion; Political Science / Essays; Political Science / General; Political Science / Political Ideologies / Conservatism & Liberalism; Social Science / Popular Culture