For the past thirty years Harold Rosenberg's formidable analyses of the social, political and intellectual dilemmas of modern life have enlivened our serious journals and provoked widespread discussion. The views expressed in Discovering The Present: Three Decades in Art, Culture, and Politics find their unity in the author's unique perspective and in his persistent critical examination or the socio-cultural situation of the present day. The books five sections deal with illusions arising from various intellectual disciplines; the socio-political dynamics of the contemporary art world; problem of identity in American culture; the situation of the Jew in the contemporary world; and the role of myth in modern politics . . . (front dust jacket)