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The rubric, ‘Bohemian Bolsheviks,’ captures Alan Wald’s sustained fascination with persistent contradictions between the image of Left political commitment and the actuality of experience, especially in relation to cultural work and cultural workers. Marxist political alignment engages a welter of intimate and biographical factors enriching the record of a varied history of fiction, poetry, literary criticism, and other intellectual practices. Exploring a field of study marked by enduring paradoxes of modernity, this volume is a sharp reminder that historical narrative not only shapes our sense of the terrain under our feet—but also the horizon in front of us.
Listen to the interview on his book with Alan Wald, conducted by Stephen Dozeman, on New Books Network.
Listen to the interview on his book with Alan Wald, conducted by Stephen Dozeman, on New Books Network.
Price: $190.00
Pages: 622
Publisher: Brill
Imprint: Brill
Series: Historical Materialism Book Series
Publication Date:
10 April 2025
ISBN: 9789004729360
Format: Hardcover
“Wald is a tour de force of American literary and cultural studies. He is the living expert on the subject of the US literary left, without whom many of his subjects may have been completely lost to time, due to neglect or intentional acts of suppression. He has authored countless essays and articles, and nine full-length books, including Bohemian Bolsheviks, his latest. [...] the new book is a remarkable addition to his legacy, a collection of 37 essays sorted into six themed sections, which operates as a generous dramatis personae of the literary left, both to its familiar headliners and lesser-known hidden gems.” — Jon Hoel, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, in Pittsburgh Review of Books (May 20, 2026).
“In summary, this thick volume brings together numerous writings and ideas. And like all of Wald’s scholarship, this volume will provoke serious discussion about the historical contributions that the socialist cultural movements have made to political change.” — Joel Wendland-Liu, Grand Valley State University, in Socialism and Democracy, p. 4 (20 Nov 2025).
“In summary, this thick volume brings together numerous writings and ideas. And like all of Wald’s scholarship, this volume will provoke serious discussion about the historical contributions that the socialist cultural movements have made to political change.” — Joel Wendland-Liu, Grand Valley State University, in Socialism and Democracy, p. 4 (20 Nov 2025).
Alan M. Wald, H. Chandler Davis Collegiate Professor Emeritus at the University of Michigan, is the author of eight books on United States Literary Radicalism, including The New York Intellectuals: The Rise and Decline of the Anti-Stalinist Left from the 1930s to the 1980s (1987).