About the book
American Night, the final volume of an unprecedented trilogy, brings Alan Wald’s multigenerational history of Communist writers to a poignant climax. Using new research to explore the intimate lives of novelists, poets, and critics during the Cold War, Wald reveals a radical community longing for the rebirth of the social vision of the 1930s and struggling with a loss of moral certainty as the Communist worldview was being called into question. The resulting literature, Wald shows, is a haunting record of fracture and struggle linked by common structures of feeling, ones more suggestive of the “negative dialectics” of Theodor Adorno than the traditional social realism of the Left.
Establishing new points of contact among Kenneth Fearing, Ann Petry, Alexander Saxton, Richard Wright, Jo Sinclair, Thomas McGrath, and Carlos Bulosan, Wald argues that these writers were in dialogue with psychoanalysis, existentialism, and postwar modernism, often generating moods of piercing emotional acuity and cosmic dissent. He also recounts the contributions of lesser known cultural workers, with a unique accent on gays and lesbians, secular Jews, and people of color. The vexing ambiguities of an era Wald labels “late antifascism” serve to frame an impressive collective biography.
Editions of American Night
- Hardcover
- ISBN 9780807835869
- Paperback
- ISBN 9781469618814
- EBook
- ISBN 9780807837344
- EBook
- ISBN 9781469601502
- EBook
- ISBN 9798890879929
- EBook
- ISBN 9798893132137
Read an Excerpt
American Night, the final volume of an unprecedented trilogy, brings Alan Wald’s multigenerational history of Communist writers to a poignant climax. Using new research to explore the intimate lives of novelists, poets, and critics during the Cold War, Wald reveals a radical community longing for the rebirth of the social vision of the 1930s and struggling with a loss of moral certainty as the Communist worldview was being called into question. The resulting literature, Wald shows, is a haunting record of fracture and struggle linked by common structures of feeling, ones more suggestive of the “negative dialectics” of Theodor Adorno than the traditional social realism of the Left.
Establishing new points of contact among Kenneth Fearing, Ann Petry, Alexander Saxton, Richard Wright, Jo Sinclair, Thomas McGrath, and Carlos Bulosan, Wald argues that these writers were in dialogue with psychoanalysis, existentialism, and postwar modernism, often generating moods of piercing emotional acuity and cosmic dissent. He also recounts the contributions of lesser known cultural workers, with a unique accent on gays and lesbians, secular Jews, and people of color. The vexing ambiguities of an era Wald labels “late antifascism” serve to frame an impressive collective biography.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is American Night about?
American Night, the final volume of an unprecedented trilogy, brings Alan Wald’s multigenerational history of Communist writers to a poignant climax. Using new research to explore the intimate lives of novelists, poets, and critics during the Cold War, Wald reveals a radical community longing for the rebirth of the social vision of the 1930s and struggling with a loss of moral certainty as the Communist worldview was being called into question. The resulting literature, Wald shows, is a haunting record of fracture and struggle linked by common structures of feeling, ones more suggestive of the “negative dialectics” of Theodor Adorno than the traditional social realism of the Left.
Establishing new points of contact among Kenneth Fearing, Ann Petry, Alexander Saxton, Richard Wright, Jo Sinclair, Thomas McGrath, and Carlos Bulosan, Wald argues that these writers were in dialogue with psychoanalysis, existentialism, and postwar modernism, often generating moods of piercing emotional acuity and cosmic dissent. He also recounts the contributions of lesser known cultural workers, with a unique accent on gays and lesbians, secular Jews, and people of color. The vexing ambiguities of an era Wald labels “late antifascism” serve to frame an impressive collective biography.
What core themes, tropes, or subjects are explored in American Night?
Biography, Literature and Literary studies > Literature: history and criticism
Where can I read a sample of American Night?
You can read an official preview of the few pages here https://www.book2look.com/book/9780807835869
How long is American Night and how many pages does it have?
American Night has 432 page(s)
Who is/are the Author/s of the book American Night?
Alan M. Wald
What are the ISBN numbers for the physical and digital editions?
American Night is available as hardcover(ISBN 9780807835869) and paperback(ISBN 9781469618814) and ebook(ISBN 9780807837344) and ebook(ISBN 9781469601502) and ebook(ISBN 9798890879929) and ebook(ISBN 9798893132137)
Where can I buy American Night online or support local independent bookshops?
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Where can I buy American Night?