Years ago, when I first started reading the quality literary and political reviews, I kept coming across the name George Scialabba. As I quickly discovered, his essays and reviews were thought provoking and sharply turned. Since then, George has been a model. I can’t say that I share his fondness for the likes of Noam Chomksy, but Scialabba is a member of no party or faction. Like one of his (and my) heroes Irving Howe, George is a social democrat with an independent streak.

“What Are Intellectuals Good For?” (Pressed Wafer, $15) collects almost twenty years worth of Scialabba’s stuff, and there is much here to relish: a bracingly unreverential look at Edward Said (two cheers for that), and a devastating appraisal of Christopher Hitchens, to name just two notable pieces. Scott McLemee, another model man of letters, provides a very fine introduction. I’ll keep this anthology close to hand.