History

1913

by Florian Illies

“1913 is an electrifying book—smart, intense, and entertaining. The reader is pulled onto the stage of high art
to discover the lunacy of Kafka, the prickliness of Freud, the laziness of Rilke. 1913 is a dizzying and entertaining account of the birth of High Modernisim. It is a thrilling roller coaster ride through the intellectual vortex of Europe on the brink of war.”—Susanne Klingenstein, Harvard University

Cotton Tenants

by James Agee
Photographs by Walker Evans

“Agee's discerning eye, crushing bluntness, and forward-falling prose poetry urge along before dunking readers' senses, again and again, into the families' way of life. Disdainful of sentiment and melodrama, Agee shows no bias, revealing his subjects and skewering both oppressors and supposed reformers….History, sociology, and economics instructors will like this compact book’s quick, thorough engagement, and writing teachers can deservedly ask students, ‘What is it? Journalism, sermon, inadvertent economy of language, manifesto?’ Yes, this nugget of … whatever—with an incisive preface by Adam Haslett—is meant for use.” —Booklist

>> more