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Ars Americana Ars Politica

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Ars Americana Ars Politica
AuthorPeter Swirski
SubjectAmerican Literature, Culture, History and Politics
PublisherMcGill-Queen's University Press
Publication date
2010
Pages221
ISBN978-0-7735-3766-8
OCLC648097211

Ars Americana, Ars Politica: Partisan Expression in Contemporary American Literature and Culture is a 2010 critical study by Peter Swirski.

The book examines contemporary American political literature and culture in the context of American politics and history. It examines not only the partisan credentials of what it argues is a new brand of art engagé but also the nobrow style in which it conducts its political business.[citation needed]

The principal examples of American literature that Swirski discusses in detail are: Irving Wallace’s The Man (1964), Richard Condon’s Death of a Politician (1978), P.J. O’Rourke’s Parliament of Whores (1991; 2003), Warren Beatty’s script and film Bulworth (1998), and Michael Moore’s Stupid White Men... and Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation (2002; 2004). All are selected because political partisanship is a part of their artistic agenda. As Swirski puts it in the introduction, the political art discussed in Ars Americana “should come equipped with shock-absorbers”.

Nominated for a dozen major awards[citation needed] Howard Zinn touted it as “fascinating and original”.[1]

References