“Anengrossingandimpossiblywide-rangingproject...InTheFreeWorld,everyseatisagoodone.“--CarlosLozada,TheWashingtonPost“TheFreeWorldsparkles.Fullyoriginal,beautifullywritten...OnehopesMenandhasasequelinmind.Thebarissetveryhigh.“--DavidOshinsky,TheNewYorkTimesBookReviewNamedamostanticipatedbookofAprilbyTheNewYorkTimes,TheWashingtonPost,andOprahDailyInhisfollow-uptothePulitzerPrize-winningTheMetaphysicalClub,LouisMenandoffersanewintellectualandculturalhistoryofthepostwaryears.TheColdWarwasnotjustacontestofpower.Itwasalsoaboutideas,inthebroadestsense--economicandpolitical,artisticandpersonal.InTheFreeWorld,theacclaimedPulitzerPrize-winningscholarandcriticLouisMenandtellsthestoryofAmericancultureinthepivotalyearsfromtheendofWorldWarIItoVietnamandshowshowchangingeconomic,technological,andsocialforcesputtheirmarkoncreationsofthemind.Howdidelitismandananti-totalitarianskepticismofpassionandideologygivewaytoanewsensibilitydefinedbyfreewheelingexperimentationandlovingtheBeatles?Howwastheidealof“freedom“appliedtocausesthatrangedfromanti-communismandcivilrightstoradicalactsofself-creationviaartandevencrime?WiththewitandinsightfamiliartoreadersofTheMetaphysicalClubandhisNewYorkeressays,MenandtakesusinsideHannahArendt’sManhattan,theParisofJean-PaulSartreandSimonedeBeauvoir,MerceCunninghamandJohnCage’sresidenciesatNorthCarolina’sBlackMountainCollege,andtheMemphisstudiowhereSamPhillipsandElvisPresleycreatedanewmusicfortheAmericanteenager.HeexaminesthepostwarvogueforFrenchexistentialism,structuralismandpost-structuralism,theriseofabstractexpressionismandpopart,AllenGinsberg’sfriendshipwithLionelTrilling,JamesBaldwin’stransformationintoaCivilRightsspokesman,SusanSontag’schallengestotheNewYorkIntellectuals,thedefeatofobscenitylaws,andtheriseoftheNewHollywood.StressingtherichflowofideasacrosstheAtlantic,healsoshowshowEuropeansplayedavitalroleinpromotingandinfluencingAmericanartandentertainment.BytheendoftheVietnamera,theAmericangovernmenthadlostthemoralprestigeitenjoyedattheendoftheSecondWorldWar,butAmerica’sonce-despisedculturehadbecomerespectedandadored.Withunprecedentedverveandrange,thisbookexplainshowthathappened.
