The Secret Knowledge

On the Dismantling of American Culture

By: David Mamet

Narrated by: Johnny Heller

Length: 6 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

For the past 30 years, David Mamet has been a controversial and defining force in theater and film, championing the most cherished liberal values along the way. In some of the great movies and plays of our time, his characters have explored the ethics of the business world, embodied the struggles of the oppressed, and faced the flaws of the capitalist system. But in recent years Mamet has had a change of heart. He realized that the so-called mainstream media outlets he relied on were irredeemably biased, peddling a hypocritical and deeply flawed worldview. In 2008 he wrote a hugely controversial op-ed for the Village Voice, "Why I Am No Longer a 'Brain-Dead Liberal,'" in which he methodically eviscerated liberal beliefs. Now he goes much deeper, employing his trademark intellectual force and vigor to take on all the key political and cultural issues of our times, from religion to political correctness to global warming. Mamet pulls no punches in his art or in his politics. And as a former liberal who woke up, he will win over an entirely new audience of others who have grown irate over America's current direction.

©2011 David Mamet (P)2011 Tantor

Critic reviews

"A Manichean analysis from a strident new voice from the Right---for liberals, something intended to ignite antagonism; for the like-minded, a buttress against the opposition." ( Kirkus)

It's Mamet ergo BRILLIANT!!!

An intellectual house party indictment of Leftist psychosis. Of course anyone who reads Hayek, Sowell and Steele must obviously be a racist homophobe as per doctrinaire social progressivism.

Mamet's use of Latin also defines him as a sychophant of the evil patriarchy.

Extremely Refreshing

I really enjoyed hearing the thoughtful and rational responses to some of the most bewildering ideas and beliefs of today’s society and I believe this book truly shares the insights and genuine feelings of the American People it’s comments aligned with the common people’s interests. Very well written and presented.

what was left

A the theme is more than interesting and it is a social fenomenum which I have observed all over the many countries I have travel too. what I cannot foresee is where all of this changes will lead to.

A Consevative Milestone

First, Johnny Heller has to be my favorite Audible narrators... a great gravely voice and an engaging reading. So the book has that going for it right out of the gate. Mamet's writing is smooth and flows like a stream of consciousness in essay after essay. His sentences are constructed informally, or conversationally, yet always with erudition. You get the sense that this is writer who lives what he speaks. Thomas Sowell's prose is in the same category of delivering dense nuggets of wisdom while crafting a clever and quotable sentence. I would love to say this book holds something for everyone, but I don't know whether liberals will read this book. I would hope they do, this book presents truth and wisdom and life experience wrapped in expert prose, it is a joy to listen to. But I don't think liberals like to challenge their innate sense of moral superiority by opening up their philosophy and egos to criticism, no matter how savory. We conservatives are fortunate to be living in a time when great thinkers and wordsmiths are now fleshing out the philosophy of our movement, recapturing and retooling the old wisdom of our great culture, and to be able to hear all these ideas brought to life in well-crafted works both written and spoken. This book is a notable milestone on the road to rediscovery of our American identity, who we are and what we envision for our future and our children's future. I dare say it is the "Common Sense" of our generation. In this battle of visions for America's future they have Krugman, we have Sowell; they have Maddow, Olberman and Sharpton, and we have Prager, Bennett, and Medved. They have most of Hollywood and we now have Mamet.. I'll take those odds all day long.

A great story told by a great storyteller

The Author has great credibility with his experience, expertise and history with theater.

Filled with rational clear argument explaining the folly--and destructive nature--of liberalism.

Intellectually Honest and Courageous Author

I love this book, it expanded my thinking. He addresses a wide variety of topics with compassion and honesty.

Why he's not a liberal

I listened to David Mamet's screed (and that's mostly what this book is, a screed) with interest. While I have not gone fully over to the conservative side, like Mamet, I too am a former liberal who has left the leftist camp. So I was hoping to get some insight as to what caused Mamet, a big-name Hollywood director and playwright who used to be very much a fellow traveler in Hollywod, to abandon his leftism and join the Dark Side.

But he apparently doesn't have much insight to offer - he goes into no more depth than he did in his famous Village Voice column, 'Why I Am No Longer a 'Brain-Dead Liberal'. He merely speaks of becoming gradually disillusioned, of seeing the world in a more "realistic" light, and mostly attributes it to being a director, who unlike actors and others Hollywood types, actually has to deal with working people and thus sees how the world really works. From all his kvetching about the media and the left's treatment of Israel, though, I suspect that was the single biggest factor. It's true that Israel tends to be a fault-line in leftist politics: all good liberals sympathize with the Palestinians and despise the Israelis except for, uh, liberal Jews. Methinks the tribalism here should be obvious, and an obvious counterpoint to Mamet's confident assertion that liberal politics is entirely driven by emotion while conservatives come to their positions by cold, hard reason, but one thing this book makes clear is that his shift did not make him any more objective than he was before.

I don't disagree with him about Israel and the Palestinians, mind - I just don't see how he can claim that his beliefs are nobler and truer just because he's seen the light and abandoned "brain-dead leftism."

Where I agree with Mamet is where he goes after the easy targets: dumb college students, dumber Hollywood celebrities, and smug hipster leftists in general. The derogatory term "SJW" (Social Justice Warrior) was not yet in vogue in 2011 when Mamet wrote this, but these are the people he's talking about, and the people who have driven me away from mainstream liberalism in disgust.

That said, his Secret Knowledge, as he admits himself, is not secret, but neither is it really knowledge. It's just a book-length assertion of conservative talking points as fact. Some of it is risible: global warming is obviously a hoax because liberals, and Obama is obviously a terrible president because liberals, and the government is obviously bad at everything because liberals, and so on and so on. He goes on extended rants about how FDR was the worst president ever and socialism is evil, and dips into the well for yet another salvo against Jane Fonda.

Sure, there are legitimate points here, but if you are trying to sell conservatism in the 21st century, can't you do better than ranting about Hanoi Jane?

One of Mamet's targets throughout the book is the government, and he repeatedly asserts that government agencies are terrible at everything, and government workers are lazy and unmotivated almost by definition, because they supposedly have no incentive to actually get anything done, let alone do it well. This is of course an article of faith among many conservatives, who see even the slightest touch of socialism (for example, believing in some social welfare) as indistinguishable from advocating hardcore Marxism, and who assume that all government workplaces are essentially Soviet-style bureaucracies as described by Kafka.

Now, I may be revealing my own tribalism here, but as a government employee myself, I'm just going to say that Mamet is flat-out wrong here. I am not really offended by his characterization of government workers, but it's as if the only government employees he's ever encountered were at the DMV or the IRS.

There is an entire field of study on workplace management and how to motivate people, but the bottom line is that it's simply not true that working for the government intrinsically robs you of motivation or work ethic. Most people want to do meaningful, useful, and interesting work. If allowed to do so, in conditions that are not too unpleasant, this has proven in many studies to be even more of a motivating factor than money. Yeah, there are people who will always go for the higher paycheck, but the average person is really only motivated by money up to a certain point. After basic needs and wants are met, all but the most ambitious or cut-throat workers just want to feel useful and not too bored.

This is definitely my experience in a fairly large and bureaucratic government agency. While we may make jokes about those employees who have "retired in place" - meaning they have essentially stopped doing any work and are just occupying a desk while waiting to retire - they are actually pretty rare. Most people want to work, and contra Mamet, they want to do their work well, and they want to improve things, and they want their projects and their organization to be successful. They do not want to just come to work every day and go through the motions while filling out a timesheet because they work for the government and thus can't be fired.

I don't think Mamet is being dishonest, I think he just reveals the limits of his own understanding and experience, while berating liberals for their own inability to comprehend conservatives because so few of them actually interact with conservatives.

So, in summary, The Secret Knowledge will probably fire up those who are already converts to the cause and regular readers of National Review. Its short chapters are just bullet points of conservative ideology. David Mamet is a far better writer than the likes of Ann Coulter or Bill O'Reilly. He makes his points with literary style rather than bombast and vitriol. (Well, there is some vitriol.) But it's pretty much the same message. So this book is unlikely to win over your liberal friends and make them question their beliefs.

A Very Interesting Perspective

A thought provoking introspection from someone raised in a liberal environment who comes to question that dogma. A brilliantly written piece that explains much about the why, then counter-points that with some of the unintended but inescapable consequences and the reasons that belief system was ultimately rejected by the author.

Well-Written, But Unconvincing

Mamet's foray into political writing is interesting, and not without its merits. He is a gifted writer and an intelligent man who has had the benefit of 60+ years of life, and much of what he has to say reflects this.

But, as Mamet admits, he is a rather new convert to conservatism, and as such, makes some of the missteps common to 'new believers.' While in many cases I agreed with Mamet's position, I often found the that the logic by which he supports his notions is fuzzy. This is not to say he's mistaken--again, I agree with many of his arguments, but were I not already predisposed toward his contention, I don't think I would be convinced. Mamet's view of conservatism seems to be one that is at times, almost unapologetically cruel, and I don't think it needs to be.

Having said this, "The Secret Knowledge" is still very much worth a listen, if not least for some insights into Mamet's own struggles with political thought and for the writing.

The narrator is very appropriate for the material, and does a good job.

Interesting

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Well, I'd recommend this to a friend if like me they aren't associated with any political party and all they really know about political party's in America is what they learned in a text book. This book is pretty good at explaining the viewpoints of the different point of view and explain what Right and Left mean and what the wards that are flung around like liberal and conservative mean and how that meaning has changed over the years.

What other book might you compare The Secret Knowledge to and why?

Economics in One Lesson and The Road to Serfdom because both link politics to economics and explain how economics is one of the motivating forces in shaping politics. The economics is more simple and road to Serfdom needs several reads.

What about Johnny Heller’s performance did you like?

He was easy to understand and nice to listen to.

What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?

What being Left and Right means and clarifying the ideals of the two party's with their realities.