Benjamin Haile DeMott (June 2, 1924, Rockville Centre, New York – September 29, 2005, Worthington, Mass.)
The author of more than a dozen books, DeMott was known for his cultural criticism in popular magazines and a trilogy, The Imperial Middle: Why Americans Can't Think Straight about Class (1990), The Trouble with Friendship: Why Americans Can't Think Straight about Race (1995), and Killer Woman Blues: Why Americans Can't Think Straight about Gender (2000).
[1] He wrote glowingly of Otis Redding, the Beatles' "Blue Jay Way" and "the supergorgeous Mantovanian Motown Sound", while mocking Marshall McLuhan and Mary Ellmann.
[2] One of DeMott's last pieces was a scalding dissection of the 9/11 Commission Report that appeared in Harper's Magazine in 2004.
[3] His final piece, "Battling the Hard Man: Notes on Addiction to the Pornography of Violence", was published in Harper's in August 2007.