THE SPENGLER GAME
I opened the Book Review section Nov. 8 and experienced a Spengler sighting. (Another recent sighting was a mention of Spengler on the ABC situation comedy “Family Matters.”)
Although not as popular as Elvis, Spengler enjoys much attention in spite of his theory being pronounced dead by some.
The Book Review sighting seemed to be just an encounter between a Spengler impersonator (Francis Fukuyama) and a Spengler detractor (H. Stuart Hughes).
The King’s image has been distorted and plundered by impersonators. His music is sometimes dismissed as just rock-and-roll.
It seems to me that Fukuyama and Hughes are playing a similar game with Spengler and “The Decline of the West.”
TOM J. SZATKOWSKI, TOLUCA LAKE
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