{"product_id":"the-sealed-envelope-toward-an-intelligent-utopia-9780300282399","title":"The Sealed Envelope: Toward an Intelligent Utopia","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn award-winning author argues for the necessity of cultural critics and intellectuals to American democracy\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThis incisive collection of essays investigates the moral imagination of modernism and our intellectual and political inheritance. George Scialabba offers a series of portraits of, and arguments with, American and European thinkers of the past hundred years, ranging from conservatives such as John Gray, William Buckley, and Jonathan Haidt to radicals such as Dwight Macdonald, Christopher Hitchens, and Bill McKibben.\u003cp\u003eIn our moment of democracy under siege, with intellectual work popularly derided as only for \"elites,\" Scialabba champions such thinkers as Richard Rorty, Barbara Ehrenreich, and Christopher Lasch, with their emphasis on democratic political culture and their faith in the capacities of ordinary people and the importance of intellectual work. This collection passes on these values \"in a sealed envelope,\" as Rilke says of love between selfish lovers, for future generations to use in crafting their own \"intelligent utopia.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e George Scialabba\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Yale University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 01\/20\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 296\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.05lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.60h x 5.50w x 1.20d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780300282399\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eGeorge Scialabba\u003c\/b\u003e is an award-winning critic and essayist. He is the author of the memoir \u003ci\u003eHow To Be Depressed\u003c\/i\u003e and the essay collection \u003ci\u003eOnly a Voice\u003c\/i\u003e. He lives in Cambridge, MA.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"booksdeli.com","offers":[{"title":"George Scialabba \/ Hardcover \/ English","offer_id":47792955097245,"sku":"9780300282399","price":51.32,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0619\/5648\/9373\/files\/img_7aee68d7-c717-457b-89ca-74e3046598f7.jpg?v=1774985532","url":"https:\/\/booksdeli.com\/products\/the-sealed-envelope-toward-an-intelligent-utopia-9780300282399","provider":"booksdeli.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}