6 x 9. 358 pgs. 29 B&W photograph section. (2005) Cloth 978-0-472-11524-2 $35.00S  Available Add to Cart Search this Book's Content About the Book Praise Look Inside Subjects American Studies / Biography / History--American History / Media and Communication--Journalism

American Prophet
The Life and Work of Carey McWilliams

Peter Richardson



American Prophet is the long-overdue biography on the brilliant life and career of a great American thinker and writer--Carey McWilliams

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About the Book

McWilliams's engrossing life story reveals a figure thoroughly engaged with the issues of his time. Author Peter Richardson deftly interweaves correspondence, diary notes, published writings, and McWilliams's own and others' observations on a colorful and influential cast of characters from Hollywood, New York, Washington, D.C., and the American West. Among those making an appearance are Louis Adamic, John Fante, J. Edgar Hoover, Joseph McCarthy, H. L. Mencken (McWilliams's mentor and role model), Richard Nixon, Arthur Schlesinger Jr., Studs Terkel, Hunter S. Thompson, Robert Towne, and more.

American Prophet illustrates the arc of McWilliams's life from his early literary journalism through his legal and political activism, his stint in state government, and his two decades as editor of the Nation. Not only will this book introduce McWilliams to a new generation of readers it will also assure his place as one of our most influential and prescient progressive political writers.

Peter Richardson is the editorial director at PoliPointPress in Sausalito, California. He is the author or editor of numerous works on language, literature, and California public policy. He holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of California, Berkeley.

Visit the author's blog at http://www.peterrichardson.blogspot.com/.