“This is undoubtedly a moment marked by a serious interest in the actions America is taking on the world stage—actions that have been described as a cause for 'grave concern.' We do not attempt to authoritatively engage these concerns here nor do we wish to insinuate that elevated interest in America's cultural affairs is somehow unique to our present historical moment. We do, however, think that this sampling of discourse by and about a country's visual artists leads to insights about its politics and society not gained elsewhere. […] At the very least, it gives a sense of what it is like to live in the United States today, and results in some inspired debate. We hope that this book serves not only as a valuable compendium of recent writing about contemporary art, but also as inspiration to seek further understanding of these 'Uncertain States.'” So Noah Horowitz and Brian Sholis note in the introduction to this unique compilation of writing around art and cultural politics in America since 2000. Published in collaboration with the Serpentine Gallery, London, and the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo, as an addendum to the traveling exhibition Uncertain States of America, curated by Daniel Birnbaum, Gunnar Kvaran, and Hans Ulrich Obrist, the USA Reader was designed by Dexter Sinister. It is a thought-provoking collection that will become an important sourcebook on American culture at the start of the new millennium. Contributors Giorgio Agamben, Dora Apel, Jack Bankowsky, David Barringer, Bernadette Corporation, John Bowe et al., Johanna Burton, Paul Chan, Critical Art Ensemble, Trisha Donnelly, Andrea Fraser, Isabelle Graw, Tim Griffin, Matthew Jesse Jackson, Chris Kraus, Miwon Kwon, Robert Morris, Molly Nesbit, Seth Price, Kymberly N. Pinder, Retort, Ralph Rugoff, Gregory Sholette, Julian Stallabrass, Kirk Varnedoe, Hamza Walker, and Matt Wolf

A groundbreaking study of the extraordinary photographers, writers, printmakers, and publishers who formed a flourishing modernist community in Kentucky Dozens of American cities witnessed the founding of camera clubs in the first half of the 20th century, though few boasted as many accomplished artists as the one based in Lexington, Kentucky. This pioneering book provides the most absorbing account to date of the Lexington Camera Club, an under-studied group of artists whose ranks included Ralph Eugene Meatyard, Van Deren Coke, Robert C. May, James Baker Hall, and Cranston Ritchie. These and other members of the Lexington Camera Club explored the craft and expressive potential of photography. They captured Kentucky's dramatic natural landscape and experimented widely with different techniques, including creating double and multiple exposures or shooting deliberately out-of-focus images. In addition to compiling images by these photographers, this book examines their relationships with writers, publishers, and printmakers based in Kentucky at the time, such as Wendell Berry, Guy Davenport, Jonathan Greene, and Thomas Merton. Moreover, the publication seeks to highlight the unique contributions that the Lexington Camera Club made to 20th-century photography, thus broadening a narrative of modern art that has long focused on New York and Chicago. Featuring a wealth of new scholarship, this fascinating catalogue asserts the importance and artistic achievement of these often overlooked photographers and their circle.

Greek American novelist James Rouman writes of the convoluted glory that is America when, Rejep, an illegal Albanian immigrant, leaves his home in search of freedom in Greece and then travels to America to find his true love