Watching the evening news offers constant evidence of atrocity--a daily commonplace in our "society of spectacle." But are viewers inured--or incited--to violence by the daily depiction of cruelty and horror? Is the viewer's perception of reality eroded by the universal availability of imagery intended to shock? In this investigation of the role of imagery in our culture, Susan Sontag cuts through circular arguments about how pictures can inspire...

Theater of Cruelty has three main themes that frequently overlap: war, film, and the visual arts. Many of the movies discussed are about war and violence, often related to World War II, and more specifically deal with the two nations that unleashed the war, Germany and Japan: why they did what they did, and how they came to terms with it afterward or didn't. Other essays in the collection, about the diaries of Harry Kessler and Anne Frank, the bombing...

"A colorful variety of cartoons, sketches, paintings, models, dioramas and writings, reflecting artist Tom Leamon's fascination with war and his own experiences as a combat veteran in World War II"--p. [4] of cover.

"Wilson-Goldie memorably profiles three artists who work in widely separated locations, but who share a commitment to conveying the emotional and political truth of some of the worst horrors the world has to offer"--

An unprecedented collection of the controversial later writings of the greatest and most provocative critic of our time. Susan Sontag was the most influential critic of her time. This second volume in Library of America's definitive Sontag edition gathers all the collected essays and speeches from her last quarter-century, brilliant works whose subjects, from the AIDS epidemic, 9/11, the Iraq war, and the perverse allure of Fascism to painting, dance,...

"Take Me Home Huey is the moving chronicle of visionary artist Steve Maloney's mission to honor Vietnam veterans 50 years after the war's end, by resurrecting a shattered medevac helicopter that was shot down on Valentine's Day 1969 and dramatically transforming it into a traveling memorial. The book documents how the sculpture evolved into a touchstone for solace and connection among veterans, including some with PTSD. Drawing on a lifetime of creativity,...