David Mazella is Associate Professor in the Department of English at the University of Houston.
The Making of Modern Cynicism is an encyclopedic story of semantic and cultural sea change. Mazella shows how the 'Cynicism' of the ancient world, represented by the shadowy but powerful figure of Diogenes, turns into the watered-down 'cynicism' of the present. Along the way are some surprises: Oscar Wilde is predictably present, but so are Beau Brummell and even Jane Austen. An eye-opening account. - W. B. Carnochan, Emeritus, Stanford University ""Mazella's genealogical analysis of 'cynicism' illuminates the literary, philosophical, and political history of this concept, casting a particularly rich light on the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Mazella's book also contributes to the discussion of cynicism in contemporary politics, offering the ancient and early modern Cynic - the Diogenes figure - as a partial antidote to what cynicism has become in an age of media saturation. Written in a lively, accessible style, The Making of Modern Cynicism should be of interest to a broad academic audience."" - Adam Potkay, The College of William and Mary
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