Benjamin Haile DeMott (June 2, 1924, Rockville Centre, New York – September 29, 2005, Worthington, Mass.) was an American English professor and

cultural critic A cultural critic is a critic of a given culture, usually as a whole. Cultural criticism has significant overlap with social and cultural theory. While such criticism is simply part of the self-consciousness of the culture, the social positions of ...

. The author of more than a dozen books, DeMott was known for his cultural criticism in popular magazines and a trilogy, ''The Imperial Middle: Why Americans Can't Think Straight about Class'' (1990), ''The Trouble with Friendship: Why Americans Can't Think Straight about Race'' (1995), and ''Killer Woman Blues: Why Americans Can't Think Straight about Gender'' (2000). He wrote glowingly of

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...

the Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

' " Blue Jay Way" and "the supergorgeous Mantovanian Motown Sound", while mocking Marshall McLuhan and Mary Ellmann. One of DeMott's last pieces was a scalding dissection of the

9/11 Commission report ''The 9/11 Commission Report'' (officially the ''Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States)'' is the official report into the events leading up to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. It was prepa ...

that appeared in '' Harper's Magazine'' in 2004. His final piece, "Battling the Hard Man: Notes on Addiction to the Pornography of Violence", was published in ''Harper's'' in August 2007. DeMott taught English at Amherst College for more than 40 years. DeMott was survived by Margaret, whom he married in 1946, and their four children.

References

http://www.firstofthemonth.org/the-uses-of-benjamin-demott-part-1/ http://www.firstofthemonth.org/the-uses-of-benjamin-demott-part-2/ 1924 births 2005 deaths Amherst College faculty American social sciences writers 20th-century American novelists People from Rockville Centre, New York American male novelists 20th-century American male writers Novelists from Massachusetts 20th-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers {{US-nonfiction-writer-stub