Woody Guthrie kept moving throughout his life, making friends, soaking up influences, and writing about his experiences. Along the way, he produced more than 3,000 songs, as well as fiction, journalism, poetry, and visual art. Will Kaufman examines the artist's career through the perspective of... číst celé
This groundbreaking book explores the hidden history of American song and struggle, from the moment Columbus made fateful landfall to the start of the Second World War. Recovering the passionate voices of an entire nation, it shows that these songs are woven into the very fabric of the American people.
Woody Guthrie is often seen as the quintessential "Okie Bard," but this book reveals a more complex figure. Will Kaufman explores Guthrie's multifaceted life as an abstract painter, sculptor, and a thinker engaged with contemporary issues like atomic energy and dialectical materialism. Beyond the rural folk image, Guthrie's artistic and intellectual pursuits highlight his profound connection to the cultural and political landscape of his era, showcasing him as a significant figure in both music and art.
Although Joe Klein's Woody Guthrie and Ed Cray's Ramblin' Man capture Woody Guthrie's freewheeling personality and his empathy for the poor and downtrodden, Kaufman is the first to portray in detail Guthrie's commitment to political radicalism, especially communism. Drawing on previously unseen letters, song lyrics, essays, and interviews with family and friends, Kaufman traces Guthrie's involvement in the workers' movement and his development of protest songs. He portrays Guthrie as a committed and flawed human immersed in political complexity and harrowing personal struggle. Since most of the stories in Kaufman's appreciative portrait will be familiar to readers interested in Guthrie, it is best for those who know little about the singer to read first his autobiography, Bound for Glory, or as a next read after American Radical.
In this lively and fascinating analysis of humourists and their work, Will Kaufman breaks new ground with his irony fatigue theory. The Comedian as Confidence Man examines the humorist's internal conflict between the social critic who demands to be taken seriously and the comedian who never can be: the irony fatigue condition.