Prologue

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. contents vii
3. Prologue ix
4. 1. never had any dreams: borough park 1
5. 2. in the landscape of sensibility: east houston street 15
6. 3. a capacity for action: poetry: a magazine of verse and the new act 26
7. 4. we write for the working class: the american writers’ congress 51
8. 5. you would have to be recluse to stay out of it: art front 76
9. 6. american stuff 99
10. 7. myth and history: partisan review 115
11. 8. partisans and politics 131
12. 9. a totally different america: washington, dc 150
13. 10. the profession of poetry: trance above the streets 180
14. 11. death in the wilderness: the OWI and the american ad council 199
15. 12. notes on identity: VVV and view 215
16. 13. possibilities 237
17. 14. les temps modernes 256
18. 15. an explanation to the french of what was cooking: “the american action painters 268
19. 16. guilt to the vanishing point: commentary magazine 288
20. 17. a triangle of allegiances: arendt and mccarthy 307
21. 18. the tradition of the new 326
22. 19. pop culture and kitsch criticism 341
23. 20. play acting: arshile gorky 357
24. 21. problems in art criticism: artforum 371
25. 22. location magazine and the long view 393
26. 23. the new yorker 412
27. 24. the professor of social thought 452
28. Acknowledgments 479
29. Notes 485
30. Bibliography 587
31. Illustration Credits 607
32. Index 609