THE MADISON AVENUE VILLAIN
591
Avenue. Some of these junkets are admittedly made for extra
funds; some to advance a reputation in the non-intellectual
world; others are justified as an attempt to reach that great
untapped soul of America which has hitherto been inaccesible
to genuine art or real ideas. But whatever the motive, hundreds
now work as part-time or full-time commercial salesmen, pro–
moting book clubs, sponsoring record clubs, endorsing syntopi–
cons, writing for movies and TV, advising industry and the
media, guesting on panel and interview shows, and writing
popular articles for mass magazines. Most of them, of course,
continue to pursue their legitimate work at the same time, so
these activities are not of great significance when contrasted
with their other contributions. Nevertheless, one feels that some
unspoken covenant has been broken which helps to shake our
resistance to whatever is pernicious in the culture.
The recent increase in these activities can probably be
explained by the intellectual's recent rapprochement with the
American middle class, and possibly even by his repudiation of
the political in favor of the social scientific discipline. For, like
the sociologist hero of George P. Elliott's
Parktilden Village,
who
begins by studying the "social significance" of comic strips and
ends by producing a successful strip himself, one can be tripped
by purely analytical and descriptive procedures into abandoning
one's ethical values (when you begin to ask "What is it?" instead
of "Is it good?" you are already on the way to joining "it"). At
any rate, many intellectuals now openly flout their association
with business enterprises, adding-when they admit to selling
their reputations-that nothing could be better sold to America
than the intellectual life. But the logic of profit always proves
stronger than the best of motives, and the ends of intellect are
almost never served. The book clubs, if originated for discrimin–
ating readers, soon run out of quality books, or, forced to seek
a wider membership, soon lower their standards, with the result
that the critic starts writing inflated blurbs for second-rate
literature. The record clubs usually offer inferior recordings
