Barbara Ehrenreich, in her collection of brief essays The Worst Years of Our Lives, presents the general thesis that the 1980s, the infamous Reagan era, were indeed not good years for many if not most Americans. The book argues that the 1980s comprised a decade of superficiality, corruption, deceit, selfishness, racism, sexism, and so on. In short, every false and/or destructive value which can be championed was championed in the 1980s in the United States. The corruption was shared by all to some degree, says the author, but especially flowed from the top down, specifically from the White House down.
This book of essays is comprehensive in the subjects it takes on, exploring political, social, economic, sexual and religious topics which preoccupied America during the decade in question. She shoots her arrows not only at the political /religious right, which is certainly her favorite target, but also at targets on the left, from feminists to sensitive "new men" to wimpy liberals.
The book is effective in skewering with much humor all these various targets, so that the reader leaves the book with the feeling that there was little of any value whatsoever in the country in the 1980s. It is up to the reader to decide whether this is true or not. However, the reader should perhaps not condemn Ehrenreich simply because her essays focus primarily on what seems to be condemnation, or at least judgment, of so many people and positions. To be fair to Ehrenreich, the purpose of satire is not to point out the things of value in society, but to point out the falseness of things which society admires.
The major problem with the book is the essays are cute rather than truly biting. Satire, to be effective, to be truly scintillating, must provide fresh and cutting insight into its subjects, must be inspiring in its humor rather than simply repeating what the reader already knows and generally agrees with already. Truly powerful and sign...