Feast of Excess

In 1952, John Cage shocked audiences with 4'33", his compositional ode to the ironic power of silence. From Cage's minimalism to Chris Burden's radical performance art two decades later (in one piece he had himself shot), the post-war American avant-garde shattered the divide between low and high art, between artist and audience. They changed the cultural landscape. Feast of Excess is an engaging and accessible portrait of "The New Sensibility," as it was named by Susan Sontag in 1965. The New Sensibility sought to push culture in extreme directions: either towards stark minimalism or gaudy maximalism. Through vignette profiles of prominent figures-John Cage, Patricia Highsmith, Allen Ginsberg, Andy Warhol, Anne Sexton, John Coltrane, Bob Dylan, Erica Jong, and Thomas Pynchon, to name a few-George Cotkin presents their bold, headline-grabbing performances and places them within the historical moment. This inventive and jaunty narrative captures the excitement of liberation in American culture. The roots of this release, as Cotkin demonstrates, began in the 1950s, boomed in the 1960s, and became the cultural norm by the 1970s. More than a detailed immersion in the history of cultural extremism, Feast of Excess raises provocative questions for our present-day culture.

George Cotkin is Emeritus Professor of History at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. His previous books include Existential America, Morality's Muddy Waters, and Dive Deeper: Journeys with Moby-Dick.

Introduction: The New SensibilityPrelude: A New Year: Judith Malina
Emergence, 1952-1960
Ch. 1 - - 1952: Sounds of Silence: John CageCh. 2 - - 1953: Erasure and Addition: Robert RauschenbergCh. 3 - - 1954: The Wild One: Marlon Brando Ch. 4 - - 1955: Ever Mysterious: Patricia HighsmithCh. 5 - - 1956: Howling in the Wilderness: Allen Ginsberg Ch. 6 - - 1957: 'Great Balls of Fire': Jerry Lee LewisCh. 7 - - 1958: To 'Nullify Explanation': Robert FrankCh. 8 - - 1959: Making a Connection: Judith Malina and Jack GelberCh. 9 - - 1960: All About Me: Norman Mailer
Explosion, 1961-1969
Ch.10 - -1961: Say What? : Lenny BruceCh.11- - 1962: Pop Goes the ParadigmCh.12- - 1963: Picking His Nose at Tradition: Andy WarholCh.13- - 1964: Naming the New: Susan SontagCh.14- - 1965: 'How Does It Feel?': John Coltrane and Bob DylanCh.15- - 1966: Living and Dying: Anne SextonCh.16- - 1967: 'Utmost Freedom of Imagination': William StyronCh.17- - 1968: An 'Extreme Gesture': Gore Vidal
Cultural Commonplace, 1970-1974Ch.18- - 1969: 'Terribleness': Amiri Baraka Ch.19- - 1970: 'I Just Love Freaks': Diane ArbusCh.20- - 1971: Vegas, Baby!: Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown, Hunter ThompsonCh.21- - 1972: Erectile Destruction: Samuel R. Delany and Thomas PynchonCh.22- - 1973: Zipless Abandon: Erica JongCh.23- - 1974: Crucified and Shot: Chris Burden
Conclusion: The Shock of the Old - and New
Index