Sensational Modernism: Experimental Fiction and Photography in Thirties America (Cultural Studies of the United States)

Challenging the conventional wisdom that the 1930s were dominated by literary and photographic realism, Entin uncovers a rich vein of experimental work by politically progressive artists. Examining images by photographers such as Weegee and Aaron Siskind and fiction by writers such as William Carlos Williams, Richard Wright, Tillie Olsen, and Pietro di Donato, he argues that these artists drew attention to the country's most vulnerable residents by using what he calls an "aesthetic of astonishment," focused on startling, graphic images of pain, injury, and prejudice.