On the Cusp

"A fascinating memoir and an important contribution to the field of American Studies. Horowitz juxtaposes and contextualizes his own experiences with those of his classmates to address the larger question of generational meaning. Much of this story takes place outside of the classroom and beyond the ivory tower, a testament to Horowitz's and his fellow students' ability to position their studies in a global context."—Wendy Kline, author of Bodies of Knowledge: Sexuality, Reproduction, and Women's Health in the Second Wave

"On the Cusp is a book of many pleasures.  Horowitz writes about his college years with both the memoirist's attention to color and detail, and the historian's attention to scale. . . . a valuable retrospective and reappraisal for those who remember these years; it will be an education in itself for those who do not."—Matthew Frye Jacobson, William Robertson Coe Professor of American Studies and History, Yale University

"At the tail end of what came to be known as the Silent Generation, Daniel Horowitz and his classmates negotiated coming of age at Yale College. Here is their story, told with sympathy, irony, and the acuity of a master historian. More than a memoir, Horowitz has given us a subtle and even surprising meditation on the inner life of a bastion of privilege at the height of the American Century."—Sean Wilentz, author of The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln

"Simultaneously a wistful memoir and a careful history."—Society

"The book weaves together the style of emotional memoir, oral and intellectual history, and social analysis all in an attempt to identify how this class was truly transitional, withsome reflecting a dawning social consciousness."—Daniel Clark, Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth