"This is one of the most important books in political science to have been published in the postWorld War
II era. It is a book indispensable for anyone who wishes to understand contemporary American politics and public
opinion."
--Bernard Grofman, International Journal of Public Opinion Research
"A major contribution to the study of realignment and political change. [This book] will be as important
as the works of Sundquist, Clubb, and even Key."
--Gerald M. Pomper, Rutgers University
Submitted by the Publisher, April, 2002
Summary
Jonas Mekas, one of the driving forces behind New York's alternative film culture from the 1950s through the
1980s, made for an unlikely counterculture hero: a Lithuanian emigr and fervent nationalist from an agrarian family,
he had not grown up with either capitalist commercialism or the postwar rebellion against it. By focusing on his
sensitivity to political struggle, however, leading film commentators here offer fascinating insights into Mekas's
career as a writer, filmdistributor, and filmmaker, while exploring the history of independent cinema in New York
since World War II. This collection of essays, interviews, and photographs addresses such topics as Mekas's column
in the Village Voice, his foundation and editorship of Film Culture, his role in the establishment of Anthology
Film Archives and The FilmMakers Coop (the major distribution center for independent film), his interaction with
other artists, including John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and finally the critical assessment of his own films, from Guns
of the Trees and The Brig in the sixties to the diary films that followed Walden. The contributors to this volume
are Paul Arthur, Vyt Bakaitis, Stan Brakhage, Robert Breer, Rudy Burckhardt, David Curtis, Richard Foreman, Tom
Gunning, Bob Harris, J. Hoberman, David E. James, Marjorie Keller, Peter Kubelka, George Kuchar, Richard Leacock,
Barbara Moore, Peter Moore, Scott Nygren, John Pruitt, Lauren Rabinovitz, Michael Renov, Jeffrey K. Ruoff, and
Maureen Turim.