SOURCE: "The Evil of Banality," in National Review, New York, Vol. XXXVII, October 4, 1985, pp. 47-9.

An American author, Brookhiser has written several books on American politics and was a speech writer for George Bush. From 1979 to 1987 he worked as a senior editor and later managing editor of the National Review. In the following essay, he offers an attack on the features, contributors, and editorial policies of the New Yorker under the editorship of William Shawn.

The New Yorker has been with us for sixty years, 34 of them under the direction of Mr. William Shawn. That makes Mr. Shawn (who never appears in print without his honorific) America's longest-tenured editor-in-chief. He is also America's most-respected editor-in-chief, for reasons that are widely known, even legendary. When Mr. Shawn receives a manuscript, he is back to his writer, with his comments, the next day. He is thorough, solicitous, unfailingly polite. Mr...