Peter Swirski, Ars Americana, Ars Politica: Partisan Expression in Contemporary American Literature and Culture

Ars Americana Ars Politica is an exceedingly well-researched and illuminating study of American political art. Swirski’s passionate defense of nowbrow partisan literature and film and how they have endeavoured to shed some light on the shady back doorsteps of American politics is refreshing.

Analyzing five popular works within the political and social eras each was created in, Swirski illustrates the profound insights each provides. As Swirski writes, “Political ‘artertainment’ can…not only inform but inspire political action.”

This beautifully written book is a breath of fresh air in an environment of conflicting information, political deception, and mistrust of the media. Ars Americana Ars Politica is an enjoyable and enlightening read for anyone who is interested in American popular culture and in discovering the truth about American politics. I truly loved this book.

Part literary studies, part history, part political studies, part popular culture studies, this is a book that loves to break barriers and taboos. In turn irreverent, impudent, and iconoclastic, it provides an eye-opening look at contemporary American political culture as seen through popular novels, journalism, and film. It appears to have been a bestseller when it was published but I have found it only now only to discover that not only has it not lost anything since 2010 when it was first published, but it is if anything even more relevant in the era of Trump. Next on my list is American Utopia and Social Engineering by the same author, from Amazon reviews it would appear that it is even more relevant to the current political and cultural scene.