William Marling, Ph.D. Professor, author, photographer

Ammon Hennacy was a forerunner of contempor-ary progressive thought, and he remains a beacon for challenges that con-front the world and especially the US today. In this exceptional biography, Marling tells the story of this fascinating figure, who remains particularly important for the Catholic Left. In addition to estab-lishing Hennacy as an exemplar of vegetarianism, ecology, and pacificism, Marling illuminates a broader history of political ideas now largely lost: the late nineteenth-century utopian movements, the
grassroots socialist movements before World War I, and the antinuclear
protests of the 1960s.

“Thought-provoking and rich, Christian Anarchist offers a close look at a deeply challenging and inspiring figure in US history, locating Hennacy in a squarely American context and providing an angle on a Catholic and otherwise religious and radical leftism that has often been overlooked in US intellectual and political history. Beautiful and profound, Marling presents a stark challenge to the definitions of radicalism, activism, and Catholicism.” — John Seitz, Fordham University

The romantic idea of the writer as isolated genius has been discredited, but there are few empirical studies documenting the role of “gatekeeping” in the literary process. How do friends, agents, editors,
translators, publishers, and reviewers shape the literary process? This matrix is further complic-ated when books cross cultural language barriers, that is, when they become part of world literature. The works of Charles Bukowski, Paul Auster, Haruki Murakami, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez are examined in context.

“Along with its more traditional scholarly virtues, Gatekeepers is delightfully readable, not least for the sheer human interest that Marling discovers in the blow-by-blow stories of how four highly significant postwar writers achieved international standing. While this book is a serious foray into the sociology of culture, it is also the repository of lots of good stories.” –Mark McGurl, author of The Program Era:

How “American” is global-ization?―there are two seemingly contradictory answers: “less than you think” and “more than you know.” Marling shows, in a series of case studies, that local cultures are intrinsic-ally resilient and that local languages, eating habits, land use, education, and other social patterns determine the extent to which American culture is imported and adapted to native needs. He argues that globalization can actually accentuate local cultures.

“If you were engaged by Thomas Friedman’s The Earth is Flat, you will enjoy How ‘American’ Is Globalization?”
―Plain Dealer

“Intriguing analysis of the influence of American technology and culture on foreign societies.”
―Midwest Book Review

“A provocatively offbeat and intermittently persuasive entry in the Americanization debate.”
―Future Survey

“First-rate book about a topic of major importance, Marling challenges the conventional wisdom about how the world is becoming ‘Americanized.’ Extraordinarily impressive.”
―Richard Pells, University of Texas