The Real Thing: Imitation and Authenticity in American Culture, 1880-1940 Book

Two months ago one of my favorite UCLA professors, Thomas Hines, referenced this book in a lecture on modern architecture in Los Angeles. I was visiting a West Los Angeles bookstore for the first time and found the book--which confirms my theory that you should always go into a used bookstore because you never know what you may find.

The thesis of "The Real Thing" is simple: 19th Century American culture was characterized by "imitation" (think of Beaux Artes, historical-revivalist architecture, photographs made to look like paintings) while early 20th Century culture was concerned with "authenticity" (think of buildings by Mies Van der Rohe).

It's easy to develop a slide lecture on this topic (as Prof. Hines did) but the book itself is underwhelming. It feels like good grad student writing, but nothing better. The author uses phrases like "that of which", which any good writer eventually abandons. He talks about "middle class taste" as if everyone already knows what that is. A concept like that needs to be defined, not assumed. The early chapters lack the flow of a good, extended essay.

The book picks up some steam in discussions of the various ideas about "realism" surrounding literature and photography--especially interesting is how early critics and authors used photographic metaphors to discuss literature. The so-called "media society" has been around longer than we think.

Orvell is right to point out that definitions of "realism" are always up for grabs, and that blatant--though entertaining--fabulators are confident to claim that skillful manipulation of reality can create a more realistic effect.

So far, I can't recommend the book as a whole, but some individual chapters may be useful to readers with a specialized interest.