Wednesday, September 02, 2015

The Uses of Decadence: On Edward St. Aubyn’s ‘A Clue to the Exit’

a clue

By

“Decadence” is one of those words whose meanings have been eroded by capitalism’s favorite destroyer of language, advertising. In 2015, you can eat a decadent dessert or rent a decadent hotel suite or find it almost unbearably decadent to nap in the middle of a weekday afternoon. Whereas decadence used to mean ostentatious overindulgence as a symptom of a culture in decline, now it just means ostentatious overindulgence — because, presumably, you deserve it!

…Read More

No comments: