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Lincoln's Smile and Other Enigmas
" Lincoln's Smile demonstrates why Alan Trachtenberg has been the leading scholar in American studies for more than four decades." ―Casey Nelson Blake, Columbia University
Alan Trachtenberg has always been interested in cultural artifacts that register meanings and feelings that Americans share even when they disagree about them. Some of the most beloved ones―like the famous last photograph of Abraham Lincoln, taken at the time of his second inaugural―are downright puzzling, and it is their obscure, riddlelike aspects that draw his attention in the scintillating essays of Lincoln's Smile and Other Enigmas . With matchless authority, Trachtenberg moves from daguerreotypes to literary texts to subjects as diverse as Louis Sullivan's Auditorium Building, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the early works of Lewis Mumford.
Alan Trachtenberg has always been interested in cultural artifacts that register meanings and feelings that Americans share even when they disagree about them. Some of the most beloved ones―like the famous last photograph of Abraham Lincoln, taken at the time of his second inaugural―are downright puzzling, and it is their obscure, riddlelike aspects that draw his attention in the scintillating essays of Lincoln's Smile and Other Enigmas . With matchless authority, Trachtenberg moves from daguerreotypes to literary texts to subjects as diverse as Louis Sullivan's Auditorium Building, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the early works of Lewis Mumford.
- GenresHistory
400 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
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About the author
Alan Trachtenberg
62 books16 followersAlan Trachtenberg was Neil Gray, Jr., Professor Emeritus of English and American Studies at Yale University.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 9, 2011
Lincoln's Smile and Other Enigmas gets one star for the intriguing smile and the haggard but bemused cover portrait of Abraham Lincoln by Alexander Gardner. Oh, wait: Prof. Trachtenberg doesn't bother to enlighten us about the photo, or about any other enigma for that matter.
This is a book of republished essays that disclose nothing so much as the profound ignorance and intellectual laziness of the author. The essays ramble like unprepared lectures, punctuated by leading questions that Trachtenberg never actually answers.
The primary theme of the book is the cultural meaning of photography. And the conventional postmodern conclusion is that photographs as cultural artifacts have nothing objective to disclose. Hence any object of Trachtenberg's attention is an enigma, and nothing is deserving of any actual research. What a waste of an academic career.
This is a book of republished essays that disclose nothing so much as the profound ignorance and intellectual laziness of the author. The essays ramble like unprepared lectures, punctuated by leading questions that Trachtenberg never actually answers.
The primary theme of the book is the cultural meaning of photography. And the conventional postmodern conclusion is that photographs as cultural artifacts have nothing objective to disclose. Hence any object of Trachtenberg's attention is an enigma, and nothing is deserving of any actual research. What a waste of an academic career.
August 7, 2009
This was sort of a bargain book fail. It was really cheap in a used book store, and Lincoln was on the cover, so I fell for it. The title essay is maybe the shortest in the book, and doesn't even really talk about Lincoln at all. Which was my main reason for buying the thing in the first place. I haven't really read through all the others. Some look very interesting and I want to read them, but it's not just my cup of tea at the moment.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews