  We develop a microscopic theory of the electronic nematic phase proximate to
an isotropic Fermi liquid in both two and three dimensions. Explicit
expressions are obtained for the small amplitude collective excitations in the
ordered state; remarkably, the nematic Goldstone mode (the directorwave) is
overdamped except along special directions dictated by symmetry. At the quantum
critical point we find a dynamical exponent of $z=3$, implying stability of the
gaussian fixed point. The leading perturbative effect of the overdamped
Goldstone modes leads to a breakdown of Fermi liquid theory in the nematic
phase and to strongly angle dependent electronic self energies around the Fermi
surface. Other metallic liquid crystal phases, {\it e. g.} a quantum hexatic,
behave analogously.
