“In this historiographical account of recent conflicts in academic politics and discourse, Wallen argues for a renewed consideration of the questions of academic freedom and autonomy. . . . The essayistic construction of Wallen’s chapters makes a compelling case for a new standard of academic writing that could lead to a revival of the essay form itself: there is no mystification, no pontification, no secret language of apocalypse or liberation in these chapters, and yet Wallen manages to write persuasively and with urgency about the crisis in the conditions of thinking itself.” MLN

“The interest in academic disputes about theory and political correctness appears to show no signs of easing up. This look at the current swirl of controversy comes from an academic who has personally been affected by it. . . . His book seeks to examine what political correctness has done to academic freedom in the university, the relation of academic critics to the public at large, and whether or not genuine dialog can emerge from literary criticism. Wallen’s approach is sure to provoke more discussion about this controversial subject.” Library Journal

“Wallen takes leading critics to task for their relatively weak conceptions

Closed Encounters is a most important book which in fact may usher in a new stage in our understanding of what a 'committed' criticism can and should be. Wallen approaches a number of the most celebrated critics of recent years-Edward Said, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Michael Berube, Gerald Graff, Stanley Fish, and many others-and asks the most straightforward question: can they successfully practice 'advocacy' in and through their teaching and writing? Can their desire to escape from the narrow confines of academic writing-writing exclusively for other academics-and reach a larger, 'non-specialized' audience, be fulfilled? His answer is one that will be unavoidable in all future discussions: these and many of their epigones have failed to reach a larger audience precisely because they do not consider their 'opponents' worthy interlocutors. To reach others, there must be debate, dialogue, the open exchange and even acceptance of different positions. But academic criticism today, according to Wallen, insists on seeing possible interlocutors as mere victims of ideolog

“This is the kind of triumphalism of the present that has distinguished so much of the work done in recent years, whose otherwise admirable political agendas are accompanied by a confidence in the superiority and a-historicality of the contemporary moment. A compelling case for a new standard of academic writing that could lead to a revival of the essay form itself: there is no mystification, no pontification, no condescension, no secret language of apocalypse or liberation in these chapters, and yet Wallen manages to write persuasively and with the urgency about the crisis in the conditions of thinking itself.” MLN

An outstanding book that is persuasive and written with admirable civility. His thesis, formulated before others but never worked out with such precision and passionate care, is that theorists on both right and left have stopped listening to each other.