Buy new:
-25% $14.89
FREE delivery Saturday, May 18 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Ships from: Amazon.com
Sold by: Amazon.com
$14.89 with 25 percent savings
List Price: $19.95

The List Price is the suggested retail price of a new product as provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or seller. Except for books, Amazon will display a List Price if the product was purchased by customers on Amazon or offered by other retailers at or above the List Price in at least the past 90 days. List prices may not necessarily reflect the product's prevailing market price.
Learn more
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
FREE delivery Saturday, May 18 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Or fastest delivery Thursday, May 16. Order within 11 hrs 34 mins
Only 13 left in stock (more on the way).
$$14.89 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$14.89
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
Amazon.com
Ships from
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Returns
30-day easy returns
30-day easy returns
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Returns
30-day easy returns
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Payment
Secure transaction
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
$11.06
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
Book in good condition, may contain minimal highlighting and/or writing, labels or ex-libris stickers. Ships direct from Amazon! Book in good condition, may contain minimal highlighting and/or writing, labels or ex-libris stickers. Ships direct from Amazon! See less
FREE delivery Tuesday, May 21 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Or fastest delivery Thursday, May 16. Order within 11 hrs 34 mins
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
$$14.89 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$14.89
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Clive James
+ Follow
More books from this author
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Cultural Amnesia: Necessary Memories from History and the Arts Paperback – Illustrated, September 17, 2008

by Clive James (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 153 ratings
See all formats and editions
{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$14.89","priceAmount":14.89,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"14","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"89","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"HQEdjaYR64Q9uPs%2BGMHUOprqlfoWHlq3KoAhI4sYN%2Bd4xUWuIQqghn2o5QJ9G%2BiNJCUT2Q2TKsJAfLbU8hktOJPUNMnB%2FVNlMNNJ65gzBFbV6SBZ2v3iPrspoQmZ0oIsnlxyWiiGeXM%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$11.06","priceAmount":11.06,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"11","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"06","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"HQEdjaYR64Q9uPs%2BGMHUOprqlfoWHlq3PrKEJ%2FZWJaQemxN9s7xhqTXuIhYtEeqCDUqW1m72h2HWsMLkN2%2BcZD877gwmjV4hXD2nWF1VTjRI8fMsICIn0skr7eckM%2FdPwMAiXP%2BIcxXfVYgma8J4lNc7yA0WpGDg7VhwLuntzX%2BU0XQHGUu21%2F7gtWyZqGWl","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

"I can't remember when I've learned as much from something I've read―or laughed as much while doing it." ―Jacob Weisberg, Slate

This international bestseller is an encyclopedic A-Z masterpiece―the perfect introduction to the very core of Western humanism. Clive James rescues, or occasionally destroys, the careers of many of the greatest thinkers, humanists, musicians, artists, and philosophers of the twentieth century. Soaring to Montaigne-like heights, Cultural Amnesia is precisely the book to burnish these memories of a Western civilization that James fears is nearly lost.

Read more Read less
Previous page
  1. Print length
    912 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    W. W. Norton & Company
  4. Publication date
    September 17, 2008
  5. Dimensions
    5.5 x 1.6 x 8.3 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    039333354X
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0393333541
  8. See all details
Next page
The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Frequently bought together

Cultural Amnesia: Necessary Memories from History and the Arts
$14.89
Get it as soon as Saturday, May 18
Only 13 left in stock (more on the way).
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
+
Cultural Cohesion: The Essential Essays
$16.83
Get it May 21 - 29
In stock
Usually ships within 3 to 4 days.
Ships from and sold by indoobestsellers.
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Details
Added to Cart
One of these items ships sooner than the other.
Show details Hide details
Choose items to buy together.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"James's writings include the great tome Cultural Amnesia, the reading of which is something like getting a master's degree in 20th-century intellectual history."
― Elizabeth Gilbert, The New York Times Book Review

About the Author

Clive James (1939―2019), author of the best-selling Cultural Amnesia and Poetry Notebook, was an Officer of the Order of Australia and a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. His writing appeared in the New York Times Book Review, The New Yorker, and The Atlantic.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company; Reprint edition (September 17, 2008)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 912 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 039333354X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393333541
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.55 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1.6 x 8.3 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 153 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Clive James

Clive James

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
153 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

C-Dub
5.0 out of 5 stars Stretched my horizons
Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2009
Verified Purchase
I read this book a few months ago but cannot stop thinking about it -- the very antithesis of Cultural Amnesia.

There are several things i found memorable about this book and Clive James' writing style. First, it was completely unpredictable. He might begin an essay with one quote or pretext that would imply a central idea, and then he would veer off in another direction entirely. Somehow, he is able to accomplish this misdirection without seeming erratic. In several cases, i felt a genuine epiphany as it dawned upon me what he was getting at.

Second, he mixes in many relatively obscure (at least they were obscure for me) figures from history, particularly from 20th Century France and Germany. It is refreshing to discover some unusual figures in history that have escaped broader attention yet still had a measurable impact, for good or ill.

Third, the prose is rich yet remains efficient. Each sentence is constructed deliberately and serves a necessary purpose. The wit is quick, recalling the best of Winston Churchill. The heft of the book is because it is mostly muscle, with little fat.

In short, it is readable and a revelation. A rare combination.

The book does have its flaws: James revisits a few themes (i.e., the Nazi occupation of France) a few too many times, and sometimes it feels like he is intentionally dredging up obscure figures merely to show that he can -- but perhaps his "necessary memories" are a little different than i would choose. All in all, a solid book.
7 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
C. Greg Freeman
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant
Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2011
Verified Purchase
I am currently a little over halfway through reading this book, and already it has had me reaching for more and more information. In fact, while reading this book, I picked up a copy of The Rebel by Albert Camus, finished it entirely, and also attempted to read War and Peace by Tolstoy. I gave up 500 pages into War and Peace, but I was able to understand James' references to it later on in the text.

There were several moments where James caught me entirely off-guard with his stealth humor, and many of his essays are very enlightening. I loved his essay on Duke Ellington, for instance, because I've danced to his music for years and knew only a small amount of the peripheral knowledge of the time that James has to offer.

So far, his essay on Georg Christoph Lichtenberg has been my favorite of the bunch. He, lucidly and beautifully, got to the essence of writing, carrying a theme all the way to the decadence of contemporary pornagraphy. He includes details that a more cautious and less confident writer would have dropped, and those details were not there for the shock value but to reinforce the point.

I will probably re-read several of these essays due to the depth that some of them contain. This book has inspired me to learn much more due to the stories he tells and the connections he makes.
6 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
scatback43
5.0 out of 5 stars Necessary Memories
Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2018
Verified Purchase
My bedside reading. OK, so James is proud of his ability to pick up Sanscrit over a weekend, and doesn't always treat the subject the essay is allegedly about (viz. his piece on Montesquieu - which isn't really on Montesquieu at all). Still, James at his best is one of the great essayists of this or any century. If you want to know what it was like as Red Vienna crumbled to the Nazi's and the Jewish literati were confronted with a life and death choices, read James and ask yourself, as he intends, what you would have done?
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Francis O Walker
4.0 out of 5 stars Foliage galore but wanting in fruit
Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2021
Verified Purchase
Georg Lichtenberg, one of the many subjects in this extended ramble, wrote: "Sometimes men come by the name of genius in the same way that certain insects come by the name of centipede; not because they have one hundred feet but because most people cannot count above fourteen. " In the 27 pages on this philosopher, Clive manages to name 115 authors, cinematographers and actors, 52 literary characters, and over 60 titles. Later, writing about Montesquieu, he remarks how often he has reread the Amis novel "Lucky Jim" because no one remembers the details of a book after one year--hence, perhaps, the name of this book, which is a desperate fight against his own inescapable conclusion. Good material is not lacking-- but finding it is more of a chore than a pleasure.
2 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
pollywrite
5.0 out of 5 stars rich cultural pickings
Reviewed in the United States on May 24, 2011
Verified Purchase
I love this book. Why? It's like a catalogue of modern world influences although, don't get me wrong, it reads nothing like a catalogue. Clive James structures the book alphabetically but that is the only constraint, if you can call it that, for he wanders far and wide with his characteristic wit and erudition. We are invited in to the mess and richness of people who have helped shape our world. From pop stars to philosophers, dictators to humanists, writers to renegades (none of whom is mutually exclusive)the range is astonishing. The intellect of the author is staggering while at the same time entertaining. How clever is that?
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Dr Merry
3.0 out of 5 stars A moment in time now past... interesting to read...
Reviewed in Germany on February 19, 2021
Verified Purchase
delivery and quality excellent.... thank you to all..
Report
Nick Dorogavtsev
5.0 out of 5 stars Such a gem!
Reviewed in Australia on February 22, 2024
Verified Purchase
Fantastic book. Getting back to it a lot :-)
Report
The South Seas cruiser
5.0 out of 5 stars Thank you Clive
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 12, 2014
Verified Purchase
I love Clive - he shaped my life. It's so great to sit down and read a thinking person. Intelligence and calm wit ... and all the time, that wonderful voice in your head. Thank you Clive.
One person found this helpful
 Report
bernardrodgers
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 16, 2018
Verified Purchase
Brilliant book delivered quickly, just as described
Report
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars An amazing A-Z of our western cultural history - one of Australia's greatest intellectuals
Reviewed in Australia on November 7, 2022
Verified Purchase
This remains one of the most erudite, interesting and engaging books I have ever read. I am amazed at the skill and breadth of CJ and his humour always gives me a wry chuckle. This book now has more annotations than any other book I have in my library- enough said
One person found this helpful
 Report