All Art Is Propaganda: Critical Essays (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Keith Gessen (Author), George Packer (Editor)
Key Phrases: comic post cards, Great War, David Copperfield, King Lear (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Before he was a renowned novelist, George Orwell was a masterful essayist. Spanning the 1940s, this companion to Facing Unpleasant Facts: Narrative Essays showcases Orwell in an often unexpected cavalcade of observations on diverse subjects—in the literary field alone as varied as T. S. Eliot, Charles Dickens, Henry Miller, Graham Greene and Kipling. But since this is Orwell, the book takes on a range of subjects with gusto: power and bully worship and the deleterious influence of Catholicism on literature. Orwell's withering observations on professional academic criticism (Politics and the English Language) are tempered by his sly Confessions of a Book Reviewer (constantly inventing reactions towards books about which one has no spontaneous feelings whatever) and Good Bad Books (the supreme example being Uncle Tom's Cabin). Not to be overlooked is a freewheeling take on the naughty postcards of Donald McGill. Overall, this collection highlights the work of a writer who always put his money where his mouth was, reiterating frequently the importance of clarity of expression in enabling independent thought. (Oct. 13)
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From School Library Journal

George Orwell (1903–50) is best remembered for his dark and prophetic political novels, Animal Farm (1945) and 1984 (1949). In addition to four other novels, he also produced some of the best book-length nonfiction of the modernist era, including Down and Out in Paris and London (1933) and Homage to Catalonia (1939). Harcourt is now republishing in two volumes his collected essays, compiled by Packer (The Assassin's Gate: America in Iraq). What is most astonishing about these essays are their continuing freshness and relevancy more than half a century after Orwell's death. All are worth reading for some combination of literary, historical, or cautionary merit. His criticism of art and politics (and sometimes both) remains spot-on, and the "unpleasant facts" he considers, including war, poverty, homelessness, lack of adequate medical care, and even schoolboy bullying, are unfortunately still familiar topics. Orwell's crisp and clear journalistic writing style remains highly accessible to 21st-century readers, with the occasional, now obscure reference illuminated by Packer's notes. Essential for academic libraries; highly recommended for public libraries.—Alison M. Lewis, formerly with Drexel Univ. Lib., Philadelphia
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 1 edition (October 13, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0151013551
• ISBN-13: 978-0151013555
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #474,999 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Provides Orwell's reflections on a range of critical topics from literature to art, November 8, 2008

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

George Orwell was a fine essayist and successful critic, discussing art and literature with equal ability and ALL ART IS PROPAGANDA: CRITICAL ESSAYS is a key recommendation for all kinds of libraries, from college-level collections strong in literature and social observation to collection also strong in art criticism. It's the latter that should especially consider ALL ART IS PROPAGANDA: it provides Orwell's reflections on a range of critical topics from literature to art. Very highly recommended.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Superb collections of thoughts, July 5, 2009

By	Integrity Reviews (USA) - See all my reviews

Offering a wide range of Orwell's essays, which were mostly written late in his remarkable life, this collection will stimulate your thinking about entertainment, writing, politics, and other topics. Orwell writes to make one think. Reading these essays is like having a provocative conversation with one of the most interesting and broad-spectrum minds of the first half of the 20th century. Definitely recommended.