William Deresiewicz

William Deresiewicz is an essayist and critic. His book Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life is based in part on his essays “The Disadvantages of an Elite Education” and “Solitude and Leadership.” To read all the posts from his weekly blog, “All Points,” click here. He is a contributing editor of the magazine.

Solitude and Leadership

If you want others to follow, learn to be alone with your thoughts

by William Deresiewicz | Monday, March 01, 2010

Love on Campus

Why we should understand, and even encourage, a certain sort of erotic intensity between student and professor

by William Deresiewicz | Friday, June 01, 2007

The Disadvantages of an Elite Education

Our best universities have forgotten that the reason they exist is to make minds, not careers

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, June 01, 2008

A Jane Austen Kind of Guy

I get it that women find my affinity for their writer intrusive, but her world has much to offer men, too

by William Deresiewicz | Tuesday, September 05, 2017

On Political Correctness

Power, class, and the new campus religion

by William Deresiewicz | Monday, March 06, 2017

The Last Post

All Points ends its run

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, September 15, 2013

Apollo’s Creed

by William Deresiewicz | Monday, September 12, 2011

Subway Seminar

by William Deresiewicz | Monday, September 19, 2011

Us Slaveholders

by William Deresiewicz | Monday, September 26, 2011

Parade’s End

by William Deresiewicz | Monday, October 03, 2011

Present at the Creation

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, October 09, 2011

You Say Latino

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, October 16, 2011

Why We Fight

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, October 30, 2011

Yankee Come Home

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, November 06, 2011

Repressed

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, November 13, 2011

Trading Up

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, November 20, 2011

Dreams from Yo Mama

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, November 27, 2011

9/11 + 9:30

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, October 23, 2011

In Memoriam

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, December 04, 2011

Thank You for Your Service

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, December 11, 2011

False Religion

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, December 18, 2011

Let Us Now Praise Famous Assholes

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, January 08, 2012

On the Beach

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, January 15, 2012

Generational Conflict

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, January 29, 2012

Settling Accounts

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, January 22, 2012

@FranzKafka

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, February 05, 2012

Occupy the Myth

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, February 12, 2012

Fiction’s Revenge

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, February 19, 2012

Forever Young

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, February 26, 2012

You Don’t Know Jack

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, March 04, 2012

Latter-Day Saint

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, March 11, 2012

Occupy Portland

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, March 18, 2012

Wage Slaves

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, March 25, 2012

Toys and Joys

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, April 01, 2012

Back to the Future

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, April 08, 2012

The Tyranny of Freedom

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, April 15, 2012

Happy Anniversary

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, April 22, 2012

Closed Minds

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, April 29, 2012

Real Time

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, May 06, 2012

The Ghost in the Machine

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, May 13, 2012

Enough

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, May 20, 2012

The Boy in the Bubble

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, June 03, 2012

The Girl with the High-Speed Connection

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, June 10, 2012

In a Cave

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, June 17, 2012

My Atheism—An Interim Report

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, June 24, 2012

Yes and No

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, July 01, 2012

Eye of Newt

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, July 08, 2012

Critical Tools and Theoretical Machines

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, July 15, 2012

The Weak

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, July 22, 2012

In League

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, July 29, 2012

All in a Dream

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, August 05, 2012

This Just In

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, August 19, 2012

Virtually Exhausted

The limitations of the American work ethic

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, August 26, 2012

Curtains

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, August 12, 2012

Inch by Inch

What makes America great

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, September 09, 2012

Tsunami

How the market is destroying higher education

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, September 16, 2012

Beside the Golden Door

The new immigrants, and some older ones

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, September 23, 2012

Numbers Game

“Diversity” and self-delusion

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, September 30, 2012

Get Real

Our thirst for authenticity

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, October 07, 2012

Strapped

What I learned in India about the public good

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, October 14, 2012

The Fire Next Time

The dangers of revolutionary thinking

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, October 21, 2012

Subsistence

The privilege of modern life

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, October 28, 2012

Upper Middle Brow

The culture of the creative class

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, November 04, 2012

Waste Management Services

The role of professionals in a market economy

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, November 18, 2012

Mr. Fix-It

The engineering mentality

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, November 11, 2012

Soul Food

Why cooking isn't art

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, November 25, 2012

Dogfarts

There are no stupid people, only stupid comments

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, December 02, 2012

How Does It Feel?

The difference between science and the humanities

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, December 09, 2012

Start a Blog

What does it mean to be a public intellectual?

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, December 16, 2012

A Dissent on Girls

What the HBO series leaves out about the lives of young women

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, January 06, 2013

Bubbles

What’s wrong with Bill Maher—and the rest of us

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, January 13, 2013

The Remains of the Day

What the Martin Luther King holiday should really be about

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, January 20, 2013

It Ain’t Exactly There

Pragmatism and idealism in political life

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, January 27, 2013

The Right Stuff

Why I’m not a novelist

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, February 03, 2013

En Garde

More reflections on the culture of the upper middle class

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, February 10, 2013

Left Behind

Automation and the morality of the future

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, February 17, 2013

The Sacrificial Butter

Why food became the new religion

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, February 24, 2013

Never the Twain

What the idea of the “two cultures” is really about

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, March 03, 2013

Such a Good Boy

A word for your consideration

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, March 10, 2013

The New Greatest Rationalization

The Iraq War, 10 years later

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, March 17, 2013

Beasts of the Northern Mild

Stalking our food in Eugene

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, March 24, 2013

The Silent Majority

How should we talk about the working class?

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, March 31, 2013

Arms and the Man

The gun debate and Southern history

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, April 07, 2013

How’s That Again?

How meaning goes missing

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, April 14, 2013

Downton’s End

Another reason that we love the English aristocracy

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, April 21, 2013

The Lottery Society

How to make it in America

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, April 28, 2013

The Limits of Limits

An inside view of Orthodox Judaism

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, May 05, 2013

The Ties That Blind

It’s who you know

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, May 12, 2013

Believe It

The persistence of faith

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, May 19, 2013

Think Again

The secret to Portland’s success

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, June 02, 2013

Smile

The culture of instant success

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, June 09, 2013

And Let Us Say, Amen

Sacred words in secular life

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, June 16, 2013

Great Expectations

What Gatsby’s really looking for

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, June 23, 2013

In the Land of the Tsars

Russia’s self-inflicted history

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, June 30, 2013

All That Is the Case

6 arguments against the existence of God

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, July 07, 2013

Seeing Things

Our spiritual voyeurism

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, July 14, 2013

Heal for America

A modest proposal to improve our health-care system

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, July 21, 2013

Take it Easy

More on Portland’s quality of life

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, August 04, 2013

Stretchers

The appeal of esoteric systems

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, July 28, 2013

The One Thing Needful

Our favorite emotion

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, August 11, 2013

Adieu

On the downward slope of empire

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, August 18, 2013

Though He Doth Tarry

On messianism and climate change

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, August 25, 2013

Oslo Remembered

Israel and Palestine

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, September 08, 2013

Eye of Newt

by William Deresiewicz | Friday, June 01, 2012

A Jew in the Northwest

Exile, ethnicity, and the search for the perfect futon

by William Deresiewicz | Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Words to Live By

by William Deresiewicz | Monday, June 20, 2011

The Salome Factor

How the sexualization of concert dance helped end a golden age.

by William Deresiewicz | Tuesday, March 01, 2005

Metaphors We Play By

by William Deresiewicz | Monday, June 06, 2011

A White Dwarf of Meaning

by William Deresiewicz | Monday, May 16, 2011

The True Church

by William Deresiewicz | Wednesday, March 02, 2011

The Dispossessed

First we stopped noticing members of the working class, and now we're convinced they don’t exist

by William Deresiewicz | Friday, December 01, 2006

Jacob and Esau

by William Deresiewicz | Monday, August 29, 2011

Get Used to It

by William Deresiewicz | Monday, August 22, 2011

New York Journal

by William Deresiewicz | Monday, August 15, 2011

In a State

by William Deresiewicz | Monday, August 08, 2011

Mother and Father Reunion

by William Deresiewicz | Monday, July 25, 2011

The Greatest Generation

by William Deresiewicz | Monday, July 18, 2011

Two Girls, True and False

by William Deresiewicz | Monday, July 04, 2011

Victims' Wrongs

by William Deresiewicz | Monday, June 27, 2011

Shiny, All-Too-Shiny

by William Deresiewicz | Monday, June 13, 2011

The Problem with the Problem of Evil

by William Deresiewicz | Monday, May 30, 2011

Yankees

by William Deresiewicz | Sunday, May 01, 2011

The Pet Gene

by William Deresiewicz | Monday, May 09, 2011

Looking for Mr. Goodbar

by William Deresiewicz | Monday, May 23, 2011

The Building Is Beige

by William Deresiewicz | Monday, August 01, 2011