Frank Lloyd Wright and His Manner of Thought

An iconic figure in American culture, Frank Lloyd Wright is famous throughout the world. Although his achievements in architecture are stunning, it is his importance in cultural history, Jerome Klinkowitz contends, that makes Wright the object of such avid and continuing interest. Designing more than just buildings, Wright offered a concept for living that still influences how people conduct their lives today. Wright's innovations in architecture have been widely studied, but this is the most comprehensive and sustained treatment of his thought.
Klinkowitz presents a critical biography driven by the architect's own work and intellectual growth, focusing on the evolution of Wright's thinking and writings from his first public addresses in 1894 to his last essay in 1959. Did Wright reject all of Victorian thinking about the home, or do his attentions to a minister's sermon on "the house beautiful" deserve closer attention? Was Wright echoing the Transcendentalism of Ralph Waldo Emerson, or was he more in step with the philosophy of William James? Did he reject the Arts and Crafts movement, or repurpose its beliefs and practices for new times? And, what can be said of his deep dissatisfaction with architectural concepts of his own era, the dominant modernism that became the International Style? Even the strongest advocates of Frank Lloyd Wright have been puzzled by his objections to so much that characterized the twentieth century, from ideas for building to styles of living.
In Frank Lloyd Wright and His Manner of Thought, Klinkowitz, a widely published authority on twentieth-century literature, thought, and culture, examines the full extent of Wright's books, essays, and lectures to show how he emerged from the nineteenth century to anticipate the twenty-first.

Outstanding Book, selected by the American Association of School Librarians

Best Books for General Audiences, selected by the Public Library Reviewers

Author: Jerome Klinkowitz
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
Published: 09/18/2014
Pages: 208
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.65lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.14w x 0.47d
ISBN: 9780299301446


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 09/01/2014 pg. 102
Choice 01/01/2015 pg. 795

About the Author
Jerome Klinkowitz is a University Distinguished Scholar and professor of English at the University of Northern Iowa. He is the author and editor of many books, including four editions of The Norton Anthology of American Literature.