| International Standard Book Number |
9781639733491 (hardcover)
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| International Standard Book Number |
1639733493 (hardcover)
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| Personal Name |
Butler, Isaac, author.
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| Title Statement |
The perfect moment : God, sex, art, and the birth of America's culture wars / Isaac Butler.
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| Production, Publication, Distribution, Manufacture, and Copyright Notice |
New York : Bloomsbury Publishing, 2026.
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| Physical Description |
xxxii, 348 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : black and white illustrations ; 25 cm.
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| Bibliography, Etc. Note |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
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| Formatted Contents Note |
Curtain speech: The American experiment at war with itself -- Ent'racte: Get the books out! -- Act I: Dirty pictures. Oh, freedom, over me -- Meet me at the foot of the cross -- The sacred and profane art machine -- The scales of our worth -- The perfect moment -- Serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value -- Bear witness -- There is no sin in Cincinnati; or, in which Dennis Barrie is fucked -- Act II: Unspeakable acts. A dog without warning -- Three trials... -- ... And a lawsuit -- The vision thing -- Soft power -- Cue the rhinoceros -- The shocking thing you do -- The grand finale -- Epilogue: Again as farce -- Curtain call.
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| Summary, Etc. |
"It's 1988, the final year of the Reagan presidency, and the curtain is closing on the Cold War. In the absence of external adversaries, the American public is on the precipice of war with itself. The religious right, newly ascendant and emboldened, is determined to seize control of America's future. And the first battles will be fought over, of all things, contemporary art. In The Perfect Moment, cultural historian Isaac Butler reexamines this pivotal, misunderstood American era. Archconservatives like Jesse Helms, Pat Buchanan, and Pat Robertson fixed their sights on artists including Andres Serrano, Robert Mapplethorpe, David Wojnarowicz, and Karen Finley, capitalizing on the provocative politics of their work to stir a nascent evangelical coalition into moral panic. It was at this moment, Butler argues, that the far right perfected the tactics it still uses today to whip its base into frenzy-from banning books and sanitizing American history, to spreading medical misinformation. All too relevant today, The Perfect Moment is an incisive and meticulously researched account of this crucial period and a stirring ode to the power of the creative spirit."-- Amazon.
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| Subject Added Entry - Topical Term |
Christianity and politics History. United States
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| Subject Added Entry - Topical Term |
Censorship United States.
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| Subject Added Entry - Topical Term |
Art Political aspects.
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| Subject Added Entry - Topical Term |
Politics and culture History. United States
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| Subject Added Entry - Topical Term |
Culture conflict History. United States
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| Subject Added Entry - Geographical Term |
United States Politics and government History.
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