Can You ‘Dig’ It?

Former Reviewer Stefan Beck ’04 runs through Digby Anderson’s newest, All Oiks Now, in February’s Policy Review.

Beck writes, “The pub is another of Anderson’s indicators. He recalls when establishments like The Red Lion or The Coach and Horses were havens for middle-class sociability (‘largely male and to an extent adult’). That time is gone, for ‘when opposing cultural forces introduce musack, vulgarity, lefty opinions, bad language and aftershave, the [middle-class regulars] feel still weaker and retreat again. The retreat ends at home, in front of the television, with a gin and tonic whose measures are monitored by the wife.’ Thus is (male) Middle England exiled from what once was its primary social and leisure channel. Pubs are now infested with noisome, bibulous youth.”

Go here for the full review.