[audiobook] Eco-Aesthetics: Art; Literature and Architecture in a Period of Climate Change (Radical Aesthetics-Radical Art) by Malcolm Miles at Arts-Photography

Description

In this sweeping work of memoir and commentary; leading cultural critic Paul Chaat Smith illustrates with dry wit and brutal honesty the contradictions of life in ldquo;the Indian business.rdquo; Raised in suburban Maryland and Oklahoma; Smith dove head first into the political radicalism of the 1970s; working with the American Indian Movement until it dissolved into dysfunction and infighting. Afterward he lived in New York; the city of choice for political exiles; and eventually arrived in Washington; D.C.; at the newly minted National Museum of the American Indian (ldquo;a bad idea whose time has comerdquo;) as a curator. In his journey from fighting activist to federal employee; Smith tells us he has discovered at least two things: there is no one true representation of the American Indian experience; and even the best of intentions sometimes ends in catastrophe. Everything You Know about Indians Is Wrong is a highly entertaining and; at times; searing critique of the deeply disputed role of American Indians in the United States. In ldquo;A Place Called Irony;rdquo; Smith whizzes through his early life; showing us the ironic pop culture signposts that marked this Native Americanrsquo;s coming of age in suburbia: ldquo;We would order Chinese food and slap a favorite video into the machinemdash;the Grammy Awards or a Reagan press conferencemdash;and argue about Cyndi Lauper or who should coach the Knicks.rdquo; In ldquo;Lost in Translation;rdquo; Smith explores why American Indians are so often misunderstood and misrepresented in todayrsquo;s media: ldquo;Wersquo;re lousy television.rdquo; In ldquo;Every Picture Tells a Story;rdquo; Smith remembers his Comanche grandfather as he muses on the images of American Indians as ldquo;a half-remembered presence; both comforting and dangerous; lurking just below the surface.rdquo; Smith walks this tightrope between comforting and dangerous; offering unrepentant skepticism and; ultimately; empathy. ldquo;This book is called Everything You Know about Indians Is Wrong; but itrsquo;s a book title; folks; not to be taken literally. Of course I donrsquo;t mean everything; just most things. And lsquo;yoursquo; really means we; as in all of us.rdquo;