ABOUT THE BOOK
THE POLITICAL CRISIS THAT SNEAKED UP ON AMERICA—THE RISE OF TRUMP
AND TRUMPISM—HAS REVEALED THE ROT AT THE CORE OF AMERICAN
EXCEPTIONALISM. RECENT CHANGES IN THE WAY WORDS AND IMAGES ARE
PRODUCED AND RECEIVED HAVE MADE THE CURRENT SURREALITY POSSIBLE;
COMMUNICATION THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA, BY DESIGN, MAXIMIZES ATTENTION AND
MINIMIZES SCRUTINY. IN CO-ILLUSION, THE NOTED WRITER ON ART,
PHOTOGRAPHY, AND POLITICS DAVID LEVI STRAUSS BEARS WITNESS TO THE NEW
“ICONOPOLITICS” IN WHICH WORDS AND IMAGES LOSE THEIR CONNECTION TO
REALITY. THE COLLUSION THAT FUELED TRUMP'S RISE WAS THE SECRET
AGREEMENT OF VOTERS AND MEDIA CONSUMERS—THEIR “CO-ILLUSION”—TO
SET ASIDE THE SOCIAL CONTRACT.
STRAUSS OFFERS DISPATCHES FROM THE EPICENTER OF OUR CONSTITUTIONAL
EARTHQUAKE, WRITING FIRST FROM THE 2016 DEMOCRATIC AND REPUBLICAN
CONVENTIONS AND THEN FROM THE CAMPAIGN. AFTER THE ELECTION, HE
SWITCHES GEARS, WRITING IN THE VOICES OF THE REGIME AND OF THOSE
COMPLICIT IN ITS ACTIONS—FROM THE THOUGHTS OF THE PRESIDENT HIMSELF
(“I AM NOT A MISTAKE. I AM NOT A FLUKE, OR A BUG IN THE SYSTEM. I AM
THE SYSTEM”) TO THE REFLECTIONS OF A NAMELESS BILLIONAIRE TECH CEO
WHOSE INITIALS MAY OR MAY NOT BE M. Z. FINALLY, STRAUSS SHOWS US HOW
WE MIGHT REPAIR THE DAMAGE TO THE PUBLIC IMAGINARY AFTER TRUMP EXITS
THE SCENE. PHOTOGRAPHS BY CELEBRATED DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHERS SUSAN
MEISELAS AND PETER VAN AGTMAEL ACCOMPANY THE TEXTS.
DAVID LEVI-STRAUSS WILL BE IN CONVERSATION WITH SUSAN MEISELAS AND
PETER VAN AGTMAEL, WHOSE PHOTOGRAPHS ARE INCLUDED IN THE BOOK._
CO-ILLUSION _REPORTS FROM AMERICA'S POLITICAL CRISIS, EXPOSING A NEW
“ICONOPOLITICS,” IN WHICH WORDS AND IMAGES LOSE THEIR CONNECTION
TO REALITY.
BOOKS WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE AND SIGNING.
_CO-ILLUSION _IS PUBLISHED BY THE MIT PRESS
[https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/co-illusion].
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08/04/2020 Last update