In this fascinating, unscripted monologue, Bowden, who appears to recall bibliographical and chronological details of his subjects from a trance state, charts a non-materialistic course through the politics of Fascist Italy, following a man who was a playwright, novelist, war hero and political figure, ultimately displaced by more politically adaptive figures.
The question and answer section at the close of Bowden’s presentation is fascinating, particularly as Bowden discusses philosophical influences upon literary figures, concluding that the non academic poet, novelist or playwright, is most often a synthesized window upon the philosophical underpinnings of a society, offering a sampling rather than promoting a single, unified view of life.
This realization, along with the visceral rejection of mercantile life and middle class materialism among noteworthy literary figures and the eschewing of dogmatic politics by the most talented, is highlighted in our own time–in part—by the veritable coma of postmodern science-fiction since its adoption by the feminist left as a venue for utopian crusades.
Masculine Axis: A Meditation on Manhood and Heroism
