Follow @yaleARTbooks September 5, 2012 marks the 100th birthday of American composer John Cage, most often known for the silently performed 4’33’’. Though Cage’s silence as a composition has been deeply considered on Yale University Press’s list with Kyle Gann’s Icons of America book, No Such Thing as Silence, the
Published today, Joshua M. Glasser’s The Eighteen-Day Running Mate: McGovern, Eagleton, and a Campaign in Crisis tells the story of the doomed presidential ticket of George McGovern and Thomas Eagleton, and the truth behind the dramatic derailment of a candidate in the 1972 US presidential election. On the 40th anniversary
The 1831 removal of five Indian tribes from the southeastern United States to Indian Territory near present-day Oklahoma is known to us as The Trail of Tears. In Savages and Scoundrels: The Untold Story of America’s Road to Empire Through Indian Territory,Paul VanDevelder follows the stories from this trail, the
The renowned Finnish architect and designer Alvar Aalto (1898-1976) created several landmarks of modern design in America—the Finland Pavilion at the New York World’s Fair in 1939, the MIT’s Baker House dormitory completed in 1949, and the Mount Angel Abbey Library completed in 1947 in Oregon. Although Aalto’s career was,
Robert Frost holds a coveted position in the category of Poets that (Almost) Everyone Knows. Many first recited “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” in grade school. Its use of chain rhyme and simple imagery provide a nice introduction to poetry, even for the youngest readers. And really, no
Follow @yaleSCIbooks When Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence he would never have imagined a country where agriculture was not always a respected activity in society. In American Georgics: Writing on Farming, Culture and the Land, editors Edwin C. Hagenstein, Sara M. Gregg, and Brian Donahue explore the history
There is no American novel with a success story more contentious than that of Philip Roth’s Portnoy’s Complaint. First published in 1969 amid scathing condemnations, it sold over three million copies in its first six years. Even more remarkable is that after four decades, the novel’s commercial and critical success
The Statue of Liberty may be the most recognized symbol in all of American culture. Its form dominates pop culture, portrayed in high profile advertising campaigns and highlighted on tourists’ kitschy tee shirts. But despite the universality of its image, what the icon actually represents remains open to interpretation, changing
Where do we draw the line between our own personal history – history with a small “h” – and the History we consider public knowledge – history with a big “H”? This is an important question for historical researchers of any caliber. It shapes the way we value (and the
The debates over religion and religious freedom are almost as American as flying the stars and stripes, fireworks on July 4th, and Friday night football games. In Endowed by Our Creator: The Birth of Religious Freedom in America, Michael I. Meyerson explores the debate between religious freedom and religious idealism,