The Free World: Art and Thought in the Cold War
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- Create Date：2021-04-26 18:31:47
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Louis Menand
- ISBN：B088DQ4QZR
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Summary
In his follow-up to the Pulitzer Prize–winning The Metaphysical Club， Louis Menand offers a new intellectual and cultural history of the postwar years
The Cold War was not just a contest of power。 It was also about ideas， in the broadest sense—economic and political， artistic and personal。 In The Free World， the acclaimed Pulitzer Prize–winning scholar and critic Louis Menand tells the story of American culture in the pivotal years from the end of World War II to Vietnam and shows how changing economic， technological， and social forces put their mark on creations of the mind。 How did elitism and an anti-totalitarian skepticism of passion and ideology give way to a new sensibility defined by freewheeling experimentation and loving the Beatles？ How was the ideal of “freedom” applied to causes that ranged from anti-communism and civil rights to radical acts of self-creation via art and even crime？ With the wit and insight familiar to readers of The Metaphysical Club and his New Yorker essays， Menand takes us inside Hannah Arendt’s Manhattan， the Paris of Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir， Merce Cunningham and John Cage’s residences at North Carolina’s Black Mountain College， and the Memphis studio where Sam Phillips and Elvis Presley created a new music for the American teenager。 He examines the post war vogue for French existentialism， structuralism and post-structuralism， the rise of abstract expressionism and pop art， Allen Ginsberg’s friendship with Lionel Trilling， James Baldwin’s transformation into a Civil Right spokesman， Susan Sontag’s challenges to the New York Intellectuals， the defeat of obscenity laws， and the rise of the New Hollywood。
Stressing the rich flow of ideas across the Atlantic， he also shows how Europeans played a vital role in promoting and influencing American art and entertainment。 By the end of the Vietnam era， the American government had lost the moral prestige it enjoyed at the end of the Second World War， but America’s once-despised culture had become respected and adored。 With unprecedented verve and range， this book explains how that happened。
The Cold War was not just a contest of power。 It was also about ideas， in the broadest sense—economic and political， artistic and personal。 In The Free World， the acclaimed Pulitzer Prize–winning scholar and critic Louis Menand tells the story of American culture in the pivotal years from the end of World War II to Vietnam and shows how changing economic， technological， and social forces put their mark on creations of the mind。 How did elitism and an anti-totalitarian skepticism of passion and ideology give way to a new sensibility defined by freewheeling experimentation and loving the Beatles？ How was the ideal of “freedom” applied to causes that ranged from anti-communism and civil rights to radical acts of self-creation via art and even crime？ With the wit and insight familiar to readers of The Metaphysical Club and his New Yorker essays， Menand takes us inside Hannah Arendt’s Manhattan， the Paris of Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir， Merce Cunningham and John Cage’s residences at North Carolina’s Black Mountain College， and the Memphis studio where Sam Phillips and Elvis Presley created a new music for the American teenager。 He examines the post war vogue for French existentialism， structuralism and post-structuralism， the rise of abstract expressionism and pop art， Allen Ginsberg’s friendship with Lionel Trilling， James Baldwin’s transformation into a Civil Right spokesman， Susan Sontag’s challenges to the New York Intellectuals， the defeat of obscenity laws， and the rise of the New Hollywood。
Stressing the rich flow of ideas across the Atlantic， he also shows how Europeans played a vital role in promoting and influencing American art and entertainment。 By the end of the Vietnam era， the American government had lost the moral prestige it enjoyed at the end of the Second World War， but America’s once-despised culture had become respected and adored。 With unprecedented verve and range， this book explains how that happened。
Reviews
Michael Reilly
，
Menand sets out in this book to describe the intellectual and artistic scene in America and Western Europe from the end of World War 2 in 1945 to the rise of the hippies in 1967。 This is intellectual history。 Menand explains that "Intellectual history explains art and ideas by examining the condition of their production and reception。" That is a misleading definition， at least for the way Menand does it。 Menand doesn't start with art and ideas。 He begins with the artist and thinkers。 Where did t Menand sets out in this book to describe the intellectual and artistic scene in America and Western Europe from the end of World War 2 in 1945 to the rise of the hippies in 1967。 This is intellectual history。 Menand explains that "Intellectual history explains art and ideas by examining the condition of their production and reception。" That is a misleading definition， at least for the way Menand does it。 Menand doesn't start with art and ideas。 He begins with the artist and thinkers。 Where did they come from？ How did they grow up？ Where did they go to school or work？ Then he tracks their ideas or their art and asks where it came from and what did it lead to。 This is a fun book to read。 Menand loves to capture the quirks and failings of his subjects。 One of the running gags， （although this is not really a "running gag" kind of book） is that artist and thinkers keep claiming that they were moved or inspired by seeing things that Menand shows they could not have seen when they said they did。 Thinkers are inspired by attending lectures that happened before they went too that school。 Artists are inspired to paint a piece by art painted after the piece。 Menand takes a genial attitude towards this kind of thing。 It is just intellectuals being intellectuals。 The scope of this book is amazing。 Abstract expressionism， the political theories of Hannah Arendt and Isiah Berlin， Mercer Cunningham and modern dance， James Baldwin and Richard Wright， Norman Mailer and William Burroughs， the Beatles， John Cage， Andy Warhol and Pop Art， Goddard and Truffaut and French cinema， Alan Ginsburg， Susan Sontag， Jack Kerouac， Pauline Kael ， Lionel Trilling， Sartre， Betty Friedan and a bunch more， all get detailed discussions outlining their life， art and thought。 This is a book not an encyclopedia。 Menand brilliantly weaves all of these stories together。 He loves showing the connections across countries and specialties。 For example， John Cage， the composer， seems to have known everyone。 He had a major role in modern dance and avant-garde theater。 The abstract expressionist， Jackson Pollock and Rauschenberg in particular， inspired Cage and he inspired them。 Menand carefully unwinds all of these complicated relationships。 One of the striking features of most of his subjects is a complete lack of a sense of humor。 The Beatles and Ginsburg where not really part of the high intellectual world。 The rest of the crowd took themselves very seriously。 Menand， in a low key way， pokes fun at much of the self importance。 Menand is a great explainer。 He manages to give as-clear-as-possible explanations of things like， the theories of abstract painters， existentialism， Sontag's theory of "Camp"， or the auteur theory of film criticism。 He is also appropriately skeptical of some of the dubious theories。 One interesting strategy Menand adopts is his tone。 This is not a debunking book。 He treats his subjects as serious thinkers and artist。 It is also not a hagiography。 When he thinks Andy Warhol is being phony， he says it。 He says it politely， but he says it。 He has favorites like Cage， Baldwin and Pollock 。 He has people he is not as much a fan of， like Sontag， Trilling and Mailer。Menand loves odd facts。 John Cage appeared on an Italian quiz show when he was doing concerts in the country。 He won five million lira （$6，000） for naming the twenty four types of white spored mushrooms。 He was， on the side， an expert in mushrooms。 He names them in alphabetical order to show off。 Or this trivia question; What educational background did at least one member of the Beatles， The Rolling Stones， The Who， Cream， Led Zeppelin， the Kinks， the Jeff Beck Group， The Animals and Donovan have in common？ They each had a member who went to art school。 Vocabulary word。 In a section on the American car industry of the 1950s， Menand mentions that， "the industry term for all tail fins， hood ornaments ， oversized bumpers， protruding tailpipes， chrome detailing-nonfunctional design elements on cars -was "borax" （adj。 "borageous" ）One quibble。 Menand says that Northrup Frye believed in the 1950s that "the critic's first task is to identify the memes"。 "Memes" is anachronistic。 Richard Dawkins invented that word in the 1970s。 It is a notoriously slippery word and it does not fit well into literary theory， but， in any case， it wasn't what Frye was thinking of in the 1950s。 This is a smart， fascinating and serious book of intellectual history。 Menand is a sprightly and clear writer。 He is the perfect guide through this interesting and confusing territory。 。。。more
Lloyd Fassett
，
4/23/21 It found me through a review in the Wall St。 Journal here: ‘The Free World’ Review: Cold War Culture - As the Americans and Soviets jockeyed for dominance， every page and painting was a potential battlefield。 It sounds like a great way to understand the 50's， or more precisely cultural and intellectual history from 1944 - 1975。 4/23/21 It found me through a review in the Wall St。 Journal here: ‘The Free World’ Review: Cold War Culture - As the Americans and Soviets jockeyed for dominance， every page and painting was a potential battlefield。 It sounds like a great way to understand the 50's， or more precisely cultural and intellectual history from 1944 - 1975。 。。。more
J Earl
，
The Free World: Art and Thought in the Cold War from Louis Menand is a sweeping survey that looks at how and why perceptions about the United States， both domestically and internationally， changed so completely during these years。First， as he makes clear in his Preface， this is neither a history of the Cold War nor is it about Cold War culture specifically。 It is about "art and thought" during this period and how it helped to mold new ways of thinking and being。 The Cold War was， as Menand says， The Free World: Art and Thought in the Cold War from Louis Menand is a sweeping survey that looks at how and why perceptions about the United States， both domestically and internationally， changed so completely during these years。First， as he makes clear in his Preface， this is neither a history of the Cold War nor is it about Cold War culture specifically。 It is about "art and thought" during this period and how it helped to mold new ways of thinking and being。 The Cold War was， as Menand says， just one of many factors。 So don't expect specifically a history of or explicit connections to the Cold War for every person or movement mentioned。 The connections are there throughout and a perceptive reader will see them， but since the tensions between the "East and West" weren't the only， or even always the primary， factor it isn't overly emphasized。Also， if you're worried about the length of the book， don't be。 First of all， by the Kindle measurement， the body of the text ends at 73%， so barely over 700 pages make up the body of the book。 While all of the notes are useful if you want to read further， very few include additional commentary （there are actually some footnotes in the text for those types of notes） so the pages with the notes do not add to the amount of reading。 In addition， each chapter is centered on a particular movement and/or group of people， so each can be read almost like a self-contained essay。 This makes the book one that allows a reader to read chapters at their leisure and return to the book later without losing too much of the flow。 That said， it richly rewards reading over a few days so you can better appreciate the big picture。Finally， and this is important， Menand doesn't treat the period as if in a vacuum。 He discusses what came before and how it helped shape what happened during this period。 Sometimes as a logical continuation， sometimes as a response to， but never as something created from nothing。 If you expected a book to discuss a period of history， especially when focusing on art and thought， without delving into what came before， you haven't read many meaningful history books， at least not very well。Because the sweep is so broad， there will be some areas where Menand uses less than nuanced interpretations when making his point。 Not so much wrong or mistaken， but things that don't take everything into account。 I didn't find these to be particularly problematic， a person can only go in depth so far on this many topics， at some point he has to rely on previous work。 I only noticed this in a couple chapters where I have done more research and reading， and I think that will be the case with other readers for whom some of these movements represent part of their personal scholarly past。 It does not， however， detract from the larger arc of the book and doesn't make a reader feel that something has been misrepresented。I highly recommend this for readers who enjoy intellectual history， literary history， and art history。 Art in this case is using the broad definition， music， painting， etc。 I think a casual reader would enjoy reading this book essentially as a collection of connected essays。Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley。 。。。more
Bagus
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