Symptoms of Culture

Culture is all around us: television, video games, Shakespeare, advertisements, books, musical recordings, news reports, even the packaging of food items. The pervasiveness of culture, however, is matched by the pervasiveness of anxiety about our position in it: Who are we? What are we? According to Marjorie Garber, one of America's most astute and imaginative social commentators, culture and anxiety are so intertwined as to be inseparable.

We are, Garber argues, what we consume culturally--even if it doesn't always agree with us. Garber's approach to culture is eclectic: she veers from Charlotte's Web to Jell-O boxes, from Sir Laurence Olivier's bisexuality to the Anita Hill/Clarence Thomas hearings. Yet her aim remains unwavering throughout. Far more interested in what a piece of culture "means" than in discussing "good" and "bad" culture, she sifts and sorts through the artifacts of everyday life attempting to find meaning and sense in the midst of chaos.

Garber's greatest source of strength as a critic, however, is her acknowledgment that "culture" is so multifaceted and meaningful that her efforts are ultimately, by intention and necessity, tentative and elusive. Full explanations would only serve to destroy culture's fun and energy. With grace and humor, Symptoms of Culture takes an insightful, invigorating look at the amazingly complicated thing we call "culture" and explains it all--well, not quite all--to us. --Michael Bronski