Traces a persistent strain in American thought and conduct: the effort to turn away from materialistic society and to live instead a `simple life' devoted to plain living and things of the mind and spirit.

The Simple Life: Plain Living and High Thinking in American Culture

Politics & Social Sciences

Shi, David E.

Social Sciences

Oxford University Press

"A true poem," Walt Whitman proclaimed in 1852, "is the daily newspaper"--and American culture was never the same again. Like a blast of cold air in a stuffy drawing room, Whitman's campaign to give artistic representation to gritty reality shocked the genteel artistic elite of the 1850s; but the brassy poet's efforts helped generate a revolution in American life and thought. Four decades later, Willa Cather could declare that the "public demands realism, and they will have it." In Facing Facts, David Shi provides the most comprehensive history to date of the rise of realism in American culture. He vividly captures the character and sweep of this all-encompassing movement--ranging from Winslow Homer to the rise of the Ash Can school, from Whitman to Henry James to Theodore Dreiser. He begins with a look at the idealist atmosphere of the antebellum years, when otherwordly themes were considered the only fit subject for art (Hawthorne wrote that "the grosser life is a dream, and the spiritual life is a reality"). Whitman's assault on these standards coincided with sweeping changes in American society: the bloody Civil War, the aggressive advance of a modern scientific spirit, the popularity of photography, the expansion of cities, capitalism, and the middle class--all worked to shake the foundations of genteel idealism and sentimental romanticism. Both artists and the public developed an ever-expanding appetite for hard facts, and for art that accurately depicted them. As Shi proceeds through the nineteenth century, he traces the realist revolution in each major area of arts and letters, combining an astute analysis of the movement's essential themes with incisive portraits of its leading practitioners. Here we see Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., shaken to stern realism by the horrors of the Civil War; the influence of Walt Whitman on painter Thomas Eakins and architect Louis Sullivan, a leader of the Chicago school; the local-color verisimilitude of Louisa May Alcott and Sarah Orne Jewett; and the impact of urban squalor on intrepid young writers such as Stephen Crane. In the process of surveying nineteenth-century cultural history, Shi provides fascinating insights into the specific concerns of the realist movement--in particular, the nation's growing obsession with gender roles. Realism, he writes, was in many respects an effort to revive masculine virtues in the face of declining virility. During the twentieth century, a new modernist sensibility challenged the now-orthodox tenets of realism: "Is it not time," one critic asked, "that we renounce the heresy that it is the function of art to record a fact?" Shi examines why so many Americans answered yes to this question, under influences ranging from psychoanalysis to the First World War. Nuanced, detailed, and comprehensive, Facing Facts provides the definitive account of the realist phenomenon, revealing why it played so great a role in American cultural history, and why it retains its perennial fascination.

Facing Facts: Realism in American Thought and Culture, 1850-1920

History

Americas

From Thomas Jefferson to Lewis Mumford, from Henry David Thoreau to the hippies of the 1960s, advocates of the simple life have formed a diverse tradition in America's cultural history. Here, for the first time, David Shi presents an intriguing and comprehensive study of the many different ways in which Americans have pursued the elusive ideal of plain living and high thinking. Beginning with the colonial period and the Puritan and Quaker ethic of hard work, temperate living and spiritual devotion, Shi ends with a discussion of Jimmy Carter's and Ronald Reagan's contrasting views of what constitutes the good life. In between we encounter a compelling cast of characters, including Jonathan Edwards, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Scott and Helen Nearing. In treating the simple life both as a sentimental ideal and as a guide for individual conduct, Shi reveals the intellectual and cultural life of this country and illuminates the persistent desire of select individuals and groups to elevate American life above the material and the mundane.

"A true poem," Walt Whitman proclaimed in 1852, "is the daily newspaper"--and American culture was never the same again. Like a blast of cold air in a stuffy drawing room, Whitman's campaign to give artistic representation to gritty reality shocked the genteel artistic elite of the 1850s; but the brassy poet's efforts helped generate a revolution in American life and thought. Four decades later, Willa Cather could declare that the "public demands realism, and they will have it." In Facing Facts, David Shi provides the most comprehensive history to date of the rise of realism in American culture. He vividly captures the character and sweep of this all-encompassing movement--ranging from Winslow Homer to the rise of the Ash Can school, from Whitman to Henry James to Theodore Dreiser. He begins with a look at the idealist atmosphere of the antebellum years, when otherworldly themes were considered the only fit subject for art (Hawthorne wrote that "the grosser life is a dream, and the spiritual life is a reality"). Whitman's assault on these standards coincided with sweeping changes in American society: the bloody Civil War, the aggressive advance of a modern scientific spirit, the popularity of photography, the expansion of cities, capitalism, and the middle class--all worked to shake the foundations of genteel idealism and sentimental romanticism. Both artists and the public developed an ever-expanding appetite for hard facts, and for art that accurately depicted them. As Shi proceeds through the nineteenth century, he traces the realist revolution in each major area of arts and letters, combining an astute analysis of the movement's essential themes with incisive portraits of its leading practitioners. Here we see Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., shaken to stern realism by the horrors of the Civil War; the influence of Walt Whitman on painter Thomas Eakins and architect Louis Sullivan, a leader of the Chicago school; the local-color verisimilitude of Louisa May Alcott and Sarah Orne Jewett; and the impact of urban squalor on intrepid young writers such as Stephen Crane. In the process of surveying nineteenth-century cultural history, Shi provides fascinating insights into the specific concerns of the realist movement--in particular, the nation's growing obsession with gender roles. Realism, he writes, was in many respects an effort to revive masculine virtues in the face of declining virility. During the twentieth century, a new modernist sensibility challenged the now-orthodox tenets of realism: "Is it not time," one critic asked, "that we renounce the heresy that it is the function of art to record a fact?" Shi examines why so many Americans answered yes to this question, under influences ranging from psychoanalysis to the First World War. Nuanced, detailed, and comprehensive, Facing Facts provides the definitive account of the realist phenomenon, revealing why it played so great a role in American cultural history, and why it retains its perennial fascination.

Arts & Photography

History & Criticism

Matthew Josephson, Bourgeois Bohemian

Biographies & Memoirs

Yale Univ Pr

A boxed gift edition of the best single-volume history of the United States. With its engaging narrative style and its richness of anecdote and detail, this complete history of our country - including over 300 illustrations and 100 maps - continues to delight readers. From presidencies and battles to the culture of everyday life, this is a compelling history of the American experience, animated by human characters, informed by analysis and social texture, and guided by the unfolding of events. It is a story in the best sense, the story of the land and the people, from the pre-Columbian experience of the Native Americans through the trials and tragedies of colonization, revolution, and civil war, to the modern era of world wars and global economies, up through the Clinton administration. This book is a must-read - and a marvelous gift - for all lovers of history. Over 300 illustrations and 100 maps

America: A Narrative History

TINDALL, George Brown

W.W.Norton&Company

The Essential America is a fundamentals version of the Tindall/Shi narrative packaged in an eye-popping, four-color design. The oversized page and double-column layout make the text accessible and highlight the book’s impressive art program. The text’s outstanding pedagogy keeps the central themes of the narrative in sight throughout.

The Essential America

Pearcy, Thomas Lee

An essential narrative of American history, with a focus on core learning objectives in the text and online, now available with a high school binding. Lively yet concise, The Essential Learning Edition of America blends Shi and Tindall’s unrivalled narrative style with innovative pedagogy to help students understand major historical developments and strengthen critical interpretive skills. Online adaptive learning tools enhance and assess students’ mastery of the core objectives from the text. AP® is a trademark registered and/or owned by the College Board, which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, this product.

America: The Essential Learning Edition

The leading narrative history that students love to read, now made more relevant and accessible. With more than two million copies sold, America remains the leading narrative history survey text because it’s a book that students enjoy reading. The Tenth Edition is both more relevant, offering increased attention to the culture of everyday life, and more accessible, featuring a reduced number of chapters and a streamlined narrative throughout.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Shi, David E.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Shi, David E.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Shi, David E.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Simple Life: Plain Living and High Thinking in American Culture

Facing Facts: Realism in American Thought and Culture, 1850-1920

The Simple Life: Plain Living and High Thinking in American Culture

Facing Facts: Realism in American Thought and Culture, 1850-1920

Matthew Josephson, Bourgeois Bohemian

America: A Narrative History

The Essential America

America: The Essential Learning Edition

America: A Narrative History

America: A Narrative History