American Rebels [Paperback]

Jack Newfield (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 5, 2004

American Rebels is an anthology of specially commissioned essays by leading American writers that attempt to reconcile authentic patriotism with original artistic creation, unpopular opinion, and real moral principles that don't change with the winds. It includes rebels in politics, education, journalism, religion, literature, film, sports, music, law, popular culture, and social struggle. These are real rebels against conformity, commercialism, racism, oligarchy, the bogus conventional wisdom, stacked decks, and sacred cows. The Americans celebrated don't fit under any one ideology or party. They are too free-spirited to be categorized, belonging to a continuum of conviction and creation in our tangled national history. Some, like Walt Whitman, Bob Dylan, Marlon Brando, and Frank Sinatra, are famous. Others are less well known but have earned a broad appreciation; among them are Sam Fuller, Paul O'Dwyer, and Mike Harrington. Still others like Edward Abbey, Benjamin Mays, and Bill Hicks are almost cult figures—revered by a small, intense following. Others have faded from memory, like Margaret Sanger and Clarence Darrow, and deserve a new shaft of sunlight. This groundbreaking collection includes original essays by Pete Hamill, Stanley Crouch, Budd Schulberg, Danny Goldberg, J. Hoberman, Patricia Bosworth, Tom Hayden, Steve Earle, and others.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Newfield's diverse collection of hagiographic essays might have been better titled "My Hero," since all of the book's contributors write about an American whom they admire. Thus, Stanley Crouch exalts jazz innovator Thelonius Monk; Victor Navasky praises investigative reporter I. F. Stone; Charles Bowden eulogizes scientist Howard T. Odum; and Wayne and Chris Barrett pay tribute to Catholic Worker Dorothy Day. According to Newfield's introduction, each subject was chosen for his or her ability to reconcile the impulses of patriotism with "original artistic creation, unpopular opinion, and real moral principles." It's a noble idea to celebrate America's tradition of individuality at a time when "patriotism" is too often misconstrued to mean "agreement." Unfortunately, however, many of the essays in this collection lack resonance simply because they are too short or too thin. Nonetheless, a few-such as Budd Schulberg's essay on Joe Louis, Gerry Hershey's on Aretha Franklin, Lucius Shepard's on Miles Davis, and Richard Lingeman's on Theodore Dreiser-make excellent and provocative reading. And the collection does include a few pleasantly surprising entries: on Bella Abzug, Mario Puzo, Jane Jacobs, Rachel Carson, Will Rogers and Bob Dylan, for example. An uneven tribute to our nation's remarkable talents and personalities, this book will most likely to appeal to readers who are already interested in its subjects.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

What do Norman Mailer, Robert Moses, Margaret Sanger, Bella Abzug, and Noam Chomsky have in common? They are all, in the words of this book's editor, "rebels, visionaries, revolutionaries, radicals, liberals, nonconformists, outsiders, insurgents, prophets, and pathfinders." So are Bob Dylan, I. F. Stone, Curtis Mayfield, and Sam Fuller, among the other Americans profiled in this collection of specially commissioned essays. The choices are appropriate: Pete Hamill, the journalist and novelist, writes about Norman Mailer. Film critic Jay Hoberman profiles director Sam Fuller. Music columnist Gene Santoro writes about Bob Dylan. The essays are miniature biographies, little life stories that get right to the point and tell us what's so great about this or that person. Any one of these "American rebels" could easily have an entire book written about them (and many have, of course), but it's impressive how much these talented essayists can tell us in such a limited amount of space. A theme collection that really works. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Nation Books (January 5, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560255439
• ISBN-13: 978-1560255437
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,055,579 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars No Place for Non-Leftists..., November 25, 2006

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J Booth "customer" (Earth) - See all my reviews

This review is from: American Rebels (Paperback)

Considering this book was affiliated with The Nation magazine, perhaps one should not be surprised that none of the people profiled in this book were not pro-socialism/communism/welfare statism. There are many other "American Rebels" of the 19th and 20th centuries who also challenged the status quo, such as Lysander Spooner, Ayn Rand, Camille Paglia, Murray Rothbard, Ron Paul, Harry Browne, Alex Jones and others who also deserve our attention.