The financial success of Bill Bennett’s “The Book of Virtues” (1993) proved that longing for the good life was far from dead. I was one of 2.2 million hungry souls that opened their wallets and minds. I can’t say that I read Mr. Bennett’s effort, which came in at a whopping 830 pages, from cover to cover.
By contrast, “The Seven Deadly Virtues” is 202 readable pages written by a witty group of 18 peculiar moralists, and it deserves similar success. You just know that you are in for a treat when a book on the subject of virtue starts with P.J. O’Rourke and ends with Chris Buckley. In between them, you’ll discover the architects of a new conservative cool that shows that is possible to be moral without being moralistic and authoritative without being authoritarian.
Read Full Article »