<< I think I have a lot more time for Mr Anderson's stuff than most here.
English Questions is well worth looking at, as was his recent short book
on postmodernism. His assessment that the right is more thoughtful than
the left these days is not so wrong. >>
And who are you thinking of? There's my own Judge Posner, if I can claim him on the basis of having clerked for several of his collegues. But he gets less "right" as time goes on, and his "righest" moments are his least thoughtful ones. As I look around the American scene, I don't see many righests I would regard as thoughtful or evwen interesting. Fukayama wrote a book that deserves attention--The End of History Thing. What else? Bloom's Closing? You gotta be kidding. Bork's Slouching? Not to mention the worthless racist dreck churned out by Murray & Herrnstein, the Thernstroms, etc. Maybe in England you are thinking of John Gray. But for every John Gray there a dozen Paul Johnsons.
Perhaps you have the contrast in mind--who on the left is doing interesting work that appeals to a broad audience? Well, There is Chomsky, some New York guy named Henwood writes on the economy, but I hear he went out a window. It's true we don't have the reach and scope we did in the mid 60s or 70s--the left is sadly shrunk. However, maybe the problem is no one is doing much thoughtful work these days.
--jks