Cultural Selection: Why Some Achievements Survive the Test of Time -- And Others Don't

In this provocative reassessment of our most enshrined cultural achievements, renowned Shakespeare scholar Gary Taylor reveals what most of the combatants of the Culture Wars seem to have missed: that culture is not what was done but what is remembered. Exploring cultural treasures from Stonehenge to Hollywood -- including Oedipus, the paintings of Velazquez, & the film "Casablanca" -- Taylor lays bare the competition among different memories as a struggle for survival, showing us why some great works have become Great Works while others have been left to the dustbin of history. Thoughtful, clear, & engaging, Cultural Selection sheds a critical new light on the continuing debate over our prized cultural icons.