The Romance of American Communism

by Vivian Gornick

Paperback, 2020

Description

-- ??Before I knew that I was Jewish or a girl I knew that I was a member of the working class.? So begins Vivian Gornick??s exploration of how the world of socialists, communists, and progressives in the 1940s and 1950s created a rich, diverse world where ordinary men and women felt their lives connected to a larger human project. Now back in print after its initial publication in 1977 and with a new introduction by the author, The Romance of American Communism is a landmark work of new journalism, profiling American Communist Party members and fellow travelers as they joined the Party, lived within its orbit, and left in disillusionment and disappointment as Stalin??s crimes be

Status

Checked out
Due January 8, 2024

Call number

335.43

Publication

Verso (2020), 288 pages

User reviews

LibraryThing member giovannigf
Evenhanded, moving account of what ideology does to and for people. Beautifully written, if a little repetitive in her physical descriptions (women are described as slim and looking 15 years younger than their age several times, for example).
LibraryThing member Karen59
I first read the Romance of American Communism in 1980 when I was 20 years old and just out of college. In the late 1970’s I found feminism and my world changed forever. How I saw, how I felt, and how I loved was impacted. New ways of being, seeing and loving reshaped my belief system but more
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importantly it reshaped my inner life and in some ways, my personality. I am now 60 and my relationship to feminism has shifted. There have been political battles and broken connections but I am still remember the falling in love and there is nothing like it. And I am still in awe.
When I read the Romance of American Communism it was the only book that best described my own political and emotional journey. I felt like I knew these people, understood their commitments, their dedication and how life was meaningful and deep. I gobbled it up and read it again. Although I did not know much about Communism or American Communism it was the affective experience of reading about people like me that made me cherish it so.

Of course, the lie was exposed and the dreams and hopes of American Communists died. Grief, fury, guilt, depression and a host of other reactions ricocheted throughout the movement. Ms. Gornick and especially her mother grieved it too.

It seems a perfect time to read The Romance of American Communism given the passion, dedication and determination of Blacks Lives Matter. Political change will sweep you in and change you forever.
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Awards

Language

Original language

English

ISBN

1788735501 / 9781788735506
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