Why Surrealism Matters

By Mark Polizzotti,

Book cover of Why Surrealism Matters

Book description

An elegant consideration of the Surrealist movement as a global phenomenon and why it continues to resonate

"Mr. Polizzotti carefully balances the movement's aspirations and attainments against its flaws and contradictions, hoping to recuperate Surrealism's 'critical and imaginative essence' for the present. . . . The best concise account of…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Why Surrealism Matters as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

As an academic, I am always looking for books that chronicle the currents that underlie the surface waves of contemporary events. Mark Polizzotti's Why Surrealism Matters does a nice and well-written job of reviewing the intellectual origin of much of today's art and pop-culture fads. Surrealism arose primarily in poetry and painting, more so than in other art forms at any rate. I particularly like how Polizzotti organizes the material by theme to shows the present-day presence and relevance of surrealism. Hint: it involves much more than scratching one's head at Salvador Dali's fantastic canvasses.

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