The modernist movement has shaped our era as has no other. This insightful collection of original essays explores the impact of modernism on American culture and the ways in which modernism remains a key to understanding American art and society. An impressive cast of scholars examines works and their creators across the whole spectrum of artistic expression--fiction and poetry, painting and sculpture, architecture, dance, photography, and film. In fresh and provocative essays they explore how the ideas of modernism helped shape such artistic expressions as the writings of the Harlem Renaissance, the paintings of Edward Hopper, New Deal public art projects, and George Antheil's Ballet Mecanique. Extensive use of color and black-and-white illustrations results in a book that is as appealing visually as it is stimulating intellectually. The contributors are Casey Nelson Blake, Robert Cantwell, Ray Carney, Thomas Fahy, Lucy Fischer, John F. Kasson, William E. Leuchtenburg, Lucinda H. MacKethan, Randy Martin, Carol J. Oja, Miles Orvell, Joan Shelley Rubin, Jon Michael Spencer, and Maren Stange.