The Paris Review CIA revelations throw a different light upon George Plimpton's actions over the years.
Recall that, after our Feb 8 2001 debate with Plimpton and his staff, George told me that the one point upon which the ULA was most wrong was the notion that literature could in any way be polemical. "Never!" he stated emphatically. (This conversation documented by Michael Jackman and myself.)
Pieces fall into place. I've been told much the same thing over the years by other established lit people; from well-bred award-winning novelist Charles Baxter; to an associate editor at the New York Review of Books. They seem to have been brainwashed into the notion that strong ideas have no place in fiction and poetry, as a matter of taste. For Plimpton it went beyond simple brainwashing.
STILL FIGHTING THE COLD WAR
The conjunction of literary bureaucracies in this nation is a mirror image of the cultural apparatus in the now-defunct Soviet Union (albeit much richer and larger). The mindset is the same. On one side, literary publications were infiltrated by the KGB. Here, they were infiltrated by the CIA. Both sides were fighting an intense ideological battle. Culture was used as a weapon against the other.
For American apparatchiks this meant stripping our literature of anything resembling authentic social action and conscience; anything in any way hinting of the crude socialist realism of the Soviets. Writing that champions the economic underdog was viewed as a threat by literary mandarins like George Plimpton. A great tradition of American literature, as represented by novelists like London, Norris, and Dreiser, was wiped out.
Who did George Plimpton promote instead? For the most part, the richest of the rich; using his influence with large circulation mags like GQ and Esquire to gain hyper-attention for modestly-talented brats like Jay McInerney, Rick Moody, and Susan Minot.
The Paris Review, mouthpiece of the literary status quo, founded entirely with CIA money, was ALWAYS an ideological vehicle. It remains so now. Editor Philip Gourevitch admits in the NY Times 2/13/07 story that the journal's CIA background was common knowledge in their offices. (They didn't think to inform anyone else!)
How do Paris Review editors salvage the reputation of their publication? Is it possible?
Do they even want to?