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Art for Hard Times

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I was tempted by this book, but after reading the review by Jonathon Yardley,

In the course of his overview, Dickstein discusses movies, plays, music and photographs, but his principal emphasis is on books, not surprising since literature has been the focus of his scholarly career. His most extensive discussion is of the work of John Steinbeck.

I wonder why Dickstein gave so much attention to Steinbeck and seems to have misread Faulkner, according to Yardley. I would think the author would use the opportunity to mine the era for lesser known artists, musicians, artists, etc. that don't get that much attention otherwise. It seems he may have completely overlooked folk music. Anyway, curious if any one else has opinions on the book.

Comments

  1. RickOctober 11, 2009 at 3:17 AM

    Yeah, what about Woody Guthrie, and all the great blues artists? The book does sound kind of interesting nonetheless.

    ReplyDelete
  2. James FergusonOctober 11, 2009 at 11:28 AM

    It is hard to imagine devoting so much attention to Steinbeck while apparently ignoring folk and country music, but maybe he figured the Dust Bowl books covered it in enough detail.

    ReplyDelete

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