Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson

This book is outstanding, in our day we have very few thinkers elevated to the status of Lockes, Hobbes or Marxs that at one point in time seemed to spring like mushrooms. If we ever had to include anybody amongst the ranks of original thinkers of such magnitude Camille Paglia would have to be one of them. This book is so refreshing in its originality, Paglia to me would be the modern heir to a Max Stirner. Instead of ideas that seek to critique or revamp the face humanity sees in the mirror, it rubs that face in the dirt and casts the mirror aside as false. This book is a must read in the increasingly drab spectrum of modern intellectual thought.

"Sexual Personae" is the type of galvanizing book that attracts much attention. Camille Paglia is the type of person who seeks attention. Because of her proclivities for media-grabbing, her shock-jock personality, her manic presentation, and some of her more mediocre popular writings, many people have formed an opinion of Dr. Paglia. "Sexual Personae" unfortunately suffers as one of those volumes many have commented on but few have actually read. It is unfairly equated with Paglia's other activity.As one who has in fact read the book, twice by this point, I can say that it is well written, well considered, and an intellectually strong work. Paglia has obviously pondered her premises extensively, and has sought liberal exposure to a wide array of supporting materials through the years. This is a stunning masterwork and deserves to be read for its own sake rather than as a tool for politically polarized zealots to draw lines in the sand.Her hypothesis stimulates thought. She looks at gender roles and relations between the sexes as primary forces in cultural history specifically, in human history in general. Paglia uses interesting tools such as the Apollo-Dionysus tension and the intellect-impulse continuum to examine the evidence she has assembled. She places Art Nouveau in a new prominence in Western culture. I believe that there is actually not so much in this book that reasonable people would find objectionable, for it is the kind of overview and survey that considers many facets of human life and is not as inclined to polemic as one might expect if they saw the author on the television.Paglia's perspective and hypotheses are well served by her unique, highly engaging writing style. Short sentences burst with vitality and fresh ideas. Her outlook is singular and she is unafraid of, nay even drawn to, re-examining conventions. I would recommend that everyone who has bashed or celebrated Paglia pick up the book. It is likely to surprise both camps. It is best read straight through, but being a tour-de-force of daunting size, it can also be approached by seeking parts that address topics of interest. It is a considerable accomplishment, and I suspect the regard it is given will increase as the author's pop culture reputation fades.

Paglia's "Sexual Personae" is a massive work of Olympian learning; the most important book of the last 3 decades and certainly one of the greatest literary tomes of the century. This book in itself is utterly more valuable than a complete undergraduate education at one of our most prestigious universities."Sexual Personae" embodies the kind of hard-thinking discussions of art and philosophy so direly needed as the 20th century comes to a close. Paglia forces us to see the embedded truth in old sexual stereotypes, easily cuts through the muddled sentimentalism of current poststructuralist jargon, and implores us to take stock of ourselves in an ascetic, self-responsible and disciplined way using wit, wisdom, and aesthetics as tools of self-knowledge in a turbulent age of decadent Empire.Paglia sees human history through art with an all-knowing, unapologetic eye to the point of sophisticated fatigue. She revives the ancient Greek concept of the Apollo/Dionysus continuum, she is honest about human social and sexual catharsis, and for all the talk about Paganism these days Paglia forces us to come to terms with the concept in a way that removes its [beautiful and horrifying] dualities from the sterile, solipsistic MickeyMouse playground on which it has been snidely and carelessly tossed by lazy new-age boomer "intellectuals"--so blindly at the expense of the well-being of the next generation of philosophical thinkers.In many ways, "Sexual Personae" is a kind of intellectual call-to-arms for Generation X. Paglia is brave, shows that she cares, and is willing to take abuse and get tough in order to get the job done. It is the Bible of the 1990's, and an indespensible book for knowing ourselves and our world.

Paglia has gotten so much press in recent years, due to her self-transformation from obscure academic into media pundit, that it's easy to sniff at the awe-inspiring strengths of her first and greatest book. There is something in "Sexual Personae" to annoy and upset everyone - but Paglia irritates because her brilliant mind neatly and decisively rips apart received ideas. By asserting the truth of certain basic oppositions - Apollo/Dionysos, Christian/Pagan, male/female - Paglia creates a thinking-space where we can see how art and literature have flourished in the tense zone between these poles. You cannot help but admire the range and depth of her erudition and interests, particularly in an age where American intellectuals say more and more about less and less. Paglia's prose is clear, dramatic, and of an adamantine brilliance that, in its better passages (the introduction, "Renaissance Art," and "Pagan Beauty," come to mind) stuns yo! u with its insights. I applaud her defense of the male imagination's sexual peculiarities, always kept on a short leash in Puritan America, and greatly look forward to the second volume. This book should be required reading in freshman composition courses. Reading this book changed my view of reality permanently. Paglia says many thing which I had always sensed, but could never put into words. The firestorm of opposition which her ideas have generated merely indicates her strength as a thinker. You owe it to yourself to read this book!