Karen Pinkus

My first book and still one that is, unfortunately, timely in its focus on the visual culture of Fascism and the modes of propaganda and advertising as inseparable. It is out of print, but looks to be available on Internet Archive. If you want a copy, get in touch. I wrote most of this living in the Veneto in an old farmhouse. Happy times, sigh…

Also out of print. I wrote half of this in Bologna while I was an ITT/Fulbright scholar. I learned that I would never be an archival historian. Or a historian of any sort. My Bologna pals called me “Signora Bocchi” so it was all worthwhile. I wrote the other half at the New York Public Library.

Lots of backstory that I will provide to anyone who writes to me. I learned I would never be a journalist. And while I experimented with a novel (yes, these exist) and a screenplay (yes, these exist…sort of) of the case, I realized the facts were much more compelling to me than any fictional adaptation.

It’s in print (not cheap)! And it has its fans. The last chapter was a transition to Fuel. 

My first book in the “environmental humanities,” however you want to interpret that label. I wrote some of it in Canberra, Australia, with a fellowship at the National Humanities Centre and some of it in Houston with a fellowship from Rice University. 

It was no simple task to translate Fuel. I added some new fuels that I had learned of since the English version came out. I had to alphabetize the whole book, which meant some serious rethinking/rewriting to provide a minimal throughline (assuming that people read the entries in order, which is not always the case). The amazing Riccardo Donati and Caterina Ragghianti had to maneuver in multiple directions to reflect the eccentricity of the original.