When Style Isn’t Enough: Maureen Dowd’s Beautiful Failure
The Times columnist knows the English language well. But her latest work lacks substance.
“Scaling Wokeback Mountain,” the latest column from New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd, is a pithy but harrowing piece of American literature. Sure, the title is a bit trite, but in terms of storytelling, the piece checks all the right boxes: sharp and inviting prose, proper rhythm, poignant use of metaphor.
Well-placed anecdotes drive her short narrative, giving just enough of a hint of personality in order to establish authenticity. The piece begins with Dowd at the gym, having a chance encounter with her Peloton instructor, Alex Toussaint, who gave her more than what she signed up for — a bit of “New Age” wisdom: “You climb the mountain to see the world,” he says. “You don’t climb the mountain so the world can see you.”
Dowd heard this, and couldn’t help but think of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one of four congresswomen of color dubbed “the Squad.” You see, Dowd had fallen in love with AOC. She was “ensorcelled” by her. She saw AOC’s rise as just what Congress needed. “I imagined the most potent feminist partnership in American history,” Dowd writes. Together, with Pelosi’s inside game, Dowd felt she could land a well-deserved punch to the…
