A Sense of Things by Bill Brown

A Sense of Things by Bill Brown

In May 1906, the Atlantic Monthly commented that Americans live not merely in an age of things, but under the tyranny of them, and that in our relentless effort to sell, purchase, and accumulate things, we do not possess them as much as they possess us. For Bill Brown, the tale of that possession is something stranger than the history of a culture of consumption. It is the story of Americans using things to think about themselves. Brown's captivating new study explores the roots of modern America's fascination with things and the problem that objects posed for American literature at the turn of the century. This was an era when the invention, production, distribution, and consumption of things suddenly came to define a national culture. Brown shows how crucial novels of the time made things not a solution to problems, but problems in their own right. Writers such as Mark Twain, Frank Norris, Sarah Orne Jewett, and Henry James ask why and how we use objects to make meaning, to make or remake ourselves, to organize our anxieties and affections, to sublimate our fears, and to shape our wildest dreams. Offering a remarkably new way to think about materialism, A Sense of Things will be essential reading for anyone interested in American literature and culture.

Buffalo Common, Confederation Park, Hub City, Mountain State, The Other Side, and Roswell were all produced by Bill Brown, a filmmaker, photographer, and author. He is the author of the zine Dream Whip's 14 issues as well as the novel Saugus to the Sea. He currently resides in Madison, Wisconsin.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780226076294
ISBN 10	0226076296
Title	A Sense of Things
Author	Bill Brown
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	The University of Chicago Press
Year published	2004-12-01
Number of pages	260
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.