Generalists, Specialists, and Others: An Interview with George
Scialabba    Published in the Columbia Journal of Literary
Criticism, Spring 2012   Puya Gerami: I'm hoping we might begin
our discussion by briefly talking about the literary and
political tradition, particularly that of the New York
Intellectuals, that has influenced your work. Your first
collection of essays and reviews, What Are Intellectuals Good
For?, seems, in part, a salute to the vibrant literary culture
that thrived during the mid-twentieth century. Can you describe
the major features of style and content that characterize the
writings of the New York Intellectuals? Although the corpus of
these thinkers is anything but a homogenous collection, it does
seem to provide a coherent model of progressive social
criticism, rooted in political engagement and cultural
authority.  George Scialabba: Irving Howe has limned the
lineaments of this intellectual culture in a marvelous essay
called "The New York Intellectuals". [L1] He emphasizes above a