Ars_Americana_Ars_Politica
Ars Americana, Ars Politica: Partisan Expression in Contemporary American Literature and Culture is a 2010 critical study by Peter Swirski.
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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). Each is selected because political partisanship is a part of its artistic agenda. As Swirski remarks in the introduction, the political art discussed in Ars Americana “should come equipped with shock-absorbers”.
Nominated for a dozen major awards[1] Howard Zinn touted the work as “fascinating and original”.[2]