Let Us Now Praise Famous Men is younger than John McCain.
This classic work by writer James Agee and photographer Walker Evans started as a New Deal program designed to put focus on the poorest segments of the American population - to produce, as Agee says in the preface, “a photographic and verbal record of the daily living and environment of an average white family of tenant farmers.”
I think the fact that he described the subjects as “an average white family” is part of what gives the quote context… and it shows what the country was like way back then. An equally interesting point to ponder is the question of who’s writing this book today? Who are today’s tenant farmers?
And what kind of person is going to put more focus on their plight?
The Working Poor: Invisible in America by David Shipler is one recent book that is well worth reading.
Comment by Peter — May 23, 2008 @ 5:16 am
Thanks for posting about the Agee/Evans book. I just ordered a copy - looking forward to reading it.
Comment by Liz — May 23, 2008 @ 2:28 pm
It’s brilliant - I hope you enjoy it.
Comment by admin — May 23, 2008 @ 2:36 pm
Today’s tenant farmers are Latino farmworkers. Despite Cesar Chavez and the farmworker’s union, their plight continues to be a struggle.
Comment by Barbara H. — May 24, 2008 @ 10:30 pm
Wow, I had forgotten the title of this book, but will never forget what I read itself. Glad to see it mentioned here, and other people interested in it. I went on to get “you have seen their faces”; a collection of photographs. I think it was the same photographer?
http://www.amazon.com/You-Have-Seen-Their-Faces/dp/082031692X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212242529&sr=8-1
Comment by Stephen Paylor — May 31, 2008 @ 10:03 am