Harold Bloom (Ph.D. in English, Yale, 1955) v. Walter J. Ong (Ph.D. in English, Harvard, 1955)

In my 8,350-word review essay, I review the life and work of Harold Bloom (1930-2019) and Walter J. Ong (1912-2003). I focus on Bloom's 1992 book The American Religion, which I criticize. I argue that Americans today who are looking for guidance in their self-fashioning should look at Ong's work about our Western cultural history.