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The Romance of American Communism
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The Romance of American Communism
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?
"Now back in print after its initial publication in 1977 and with a new introduction by the author, [this book] is a landmark work of new journalism, profiling American Communist Party members and fellow travelers as they joined the Party, lived within its orbit, and left in disillusionment and disappointment as Stalin's crimes became public"--Bac
Writer and critic Vivian Gornick’s long-unavailable classic exploring how left politics gave depth and meaning to American life.
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Description
“Before I knew that I was Jewish or a girl I knew that I was a member of the working class.” So begins Vivian Gornick’s exploration of how the world of socialists, communists, and progressives in the 1940s and 1950s created a rich, diverse world where ordinary men and women felt their lives connected to a larger human project.
Now back in print after its initial publication in 1977 and with a new introduction by the author, The Romance of American Communism is a landmark work of new journalism, profiling American Communist Party members and fellow travellers as they joined the Party, lived within its orbit, and left in disillusionment and disappointment as Stalin’s crimes became public.
From the immigrant Jewish enclaves of the Bronx and Brooklyn and the docks of Puget Sound to the mining towns of Kentucky and the suburbs of Cleveland, over a million Americans found a sense of belonging and an expanded sense of self through collective struggle. They also found social isolation, blacklisting, imprisonment, and shattered hopes. This is their story—an indisputably American story.
Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
The Romance of American Communism by Vivian Gornick is highly praised for its exploration of the emotional and social lives of American communists. Reviews highlight Gornick's ability to capture the fervour and human elements behind political commitment, offering a deep dive into the lives and passions that drove individuals within the Communist Party. Her work is lauded for its literary quality, described as both intimate and profound, providing a compelling insight into the era and its people.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781788735506
Publisher: Verso Books
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 07 April 2020
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Verso Books
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 19.0mm
Width: 152.0mm
Height: 234.0mm
Weight: 332g
Pages: 288
About the Author
Vivian Gornick is a writer and critic whose work has received two National Book Critics Circle Award nominations and been collected in The Best American Essays 2014. Growing up in the Bronx amongst communists and socialists, Gornick became a legendary writer for Village Voice, chronicling the emergence of the feminist movement in the 1970s. Her works include the memoirs Fierce Attachments (1987) and The Odd Woman and the City (2015) and the classic text on writing, The Situation and the Story.
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For nearly fifty years, Vivian Gornick’s essays, written with her characteristic clarity of perception and vibrant prose, have explored feminism and writing, literature and culture, politics, and personal experience. Drawing writing from the course of her career, All That is Given illuminates one of the driving themes behind Gornick’s work: that the painful process of understanding one's self is what...Hardback$4500Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
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In her introduction to this year’s The Best American Essays, guest editor Vivian Gornick states that her selections “contribute materially to the long and honourable history of the personal essay by way of the value they place on lived experience.” Provocative, daring, and honest at a time when many writers are deliberately silencing themselves in the face of authoritarian and...Paperback$5100Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 2-3 weeks -
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