
Benjamen Walker's Theory of Everything Not All Propaganda is Art 2: Outsider Influence
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Jan 30, 2024 New Yorker writer Dwight Macdonald investigated covert propaganda while joining Encounter magazine in 1956. Colin Wilson, an Existentialist, became England's answer to Jean-Paul Sartre. Discover the covert propaganda behind Operation Free Youth Action and Operation Anti-Sartre, as well as its influence on Macdonald's critique of Mass and Middlebrow Culture.
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A Literary Mystery
- Dwight Macdonald questioned how a badly written book by an unknown author became a bestseller.
- He investigated the reasons behind The Outsider's success, suspecting more than just good reviews.
Cultural Means
- Dwight Macdonald criticized Colin Wilson's writing style and attributed his success partly to an audience living beyond its cultural means.
- This observation influenced Macdonald's later critique of mass and middlebrow culture.
Amateur Journalism
- Dwight Macdonald admired the amateurism of English critics, considering them less corruptible by the market.
- Jeffrey Wheatcroft found this Anglophilia somewhat naive, given the CIA's involvement.
