Benjamin DeMott

Professor Benjamin Haile DeMott (June 2, 1924, Rockville Centre, New York – September 29, 2005) was an American writer, scholar, and cultural critic. Author of more than a dozen books, DeMott was best known for his cultural criticism in popular magazines and a trilogy, The Imperial Middle: Why Americans Can't Think Straight about Class (1990), The Trouble with Friendship: Why American's Can't Think Straight about Race (1995), and Killer Woman Blues: Why Americans Can't Think Straight about Gender (2000).

One of his last pieces was a scalding dissection of the 9/11 Commission report that appeared in Harper's Magazine. His final piece -- "Battling the Hard Man: Notes on Addiction to the Pornography of Violence"—was published in Harper's in August, 2007. See links below.

DeMott taught English at Amherst College for more than 40 years.

External links

• http://www.harpers.org/media/pages/2007/08/pdf/HarpersMagazine-2007-08-0081632.pdf
• http://www.harpers.org/archive/2004/10/0080234
• http://books.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,,1668793,00.html
• http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/10/02/BAGMPF1BJM1.DTL&feed=rss.bayarea