Maverick with a paintbrush

This chapter focuses on the concept of “maverick,” a term as American as the Stars and Stripes that the notion of the “maverick composer” is likewise unique to the United States. A...

Since his television debut in the mid-1950s, James Garner entertained millions of fans on screens both big and small. From supporting roles in memorable films like Sayonara and The...

This chapter assesses the Palin campaign as an exercise in political storytelling. In this media-saturated age in which party labels may not tell us much about a candidate, persona...

Children’s art became a powerful weapon in America’s Cold War arsenal. Through art exchange programs like Art for World Friendship, American children functioned as cultural ambassa...

"I had to leave town for a little while—" with these words, Elvis Presley truly came home to rock and roll. A little over a month earlier he had staged rock’s first and greatest co...

Raymond Durgnat was a maverick voice during the golden age of film criticism. From the French New Wave and the rise of auteurism, through the late 1960s counter-culture, to the rej...