{"product_id":"letter-to-the-americans-9780811231596","title":"Letter to the Americans","description":"In 1949, Jean Cocteau spent twenty days in New York, and began composing on the plane ride home this essay filled with the vivid impressions of his trip. With his unmistakable prose and graceful wit, he compares and contrasts French and American culture: the different values they place on art, literature, liberty, psychology, and dreams. Cocteau sees the incredibly buoyant hopes in America's promise, while at the same time warning of the many ills that the nation will have to confront--its hypocrisy, sexism, racism, and hegemonic aspirations--in order to realize this potential. Never before translated into English, \u003cem\u003eLetter to the Americans\u003c\/em\u003e remains as timely and urgent as when it was first published in France over seventy years ago.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eCocteau, Jean:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cstrong\u003eJean Cocteau\u003c\/strong\u003e (1889-1963) was a French writer, poet, designer, draftsman, sculptor, filmmaker, and boxing manager. His list of friends--including New Directions' founder James Laughlin--would read like a catalog of the stars of the twentieth-century avant-garde. He died of a heart attack after being informed of the death of his friend, the singer Edith Piaf.\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWermer-Colan, Alex:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cstrong\u003eAlex Wermer-Colan\u003c\/strong\u003e is a writer, editor, dramaturg, and translator living in Philadelphia. His work has appeared in such publications as \u003cem\u003eThe Los Angeles Review of Books\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003ePAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eTwentieth Century Literature\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Yearbook of Comparative Literature\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Conversant\u003c\/em\u003e, Indiana University Press, and \u003cem\u003eLost \u0026amp; Found: The CUNY Poetics Document Initiative\u003c\/em\u003e.","brand":"New Directions Publishing Corporation","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50629113086226,"sku":"9780811231596","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_b484fceb-a63d-4bca-94e3-6161fb17fddf.jpg?v=1732720888","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/letter-to-the-americans-9780811231596","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}