Let Us Now Praise Famous Men (1941)

This is a story so intense and devoted to its subject, it is almost holy writ. It is a sermon preached by the prophet Jeremiah, who preached while weeping in the streets of Jerusalem. The style is florid and ornate, not a stream but a torrent of consciousness. Some sentences are pages long musings on philosophy and writing and life which might make Faulkner smile with approval.

It is an attempt to accurately portray, in words and pictures, the lives of Tenant Farmers in the South in the worst of the Great Depression. He has an obsessive streak for description, he grabs your hand and wants you to feel everything, to get the smell ingrained in you, to look in their tired eyes and see their quiet dignity.

Evans has an equally astonishing photoset in the very beginning, but Agee's descriptions make them LIVE, and the descriptions and life and humanity within them unfold.

Agee scorns the label of their work as Art. Very well then, let us call it Life.


"Let us now praise famous men, and our fathers that begat us. The Lord hath wrought great glory by them through his great power from the beginning.
Such as did bear rule in their kingdoms, men renowned for their power, giving counsel by their understanding, and declaring prophecies:
Leaders of the people by their counsels, and by their knowledge of learning meet for the people, wise and eloquent are their instructions:
Such as found out musical tunes, and recited verses in writing:
Rich men furnished with ability, living peaceably in their habitations:
All these were honoured in their generations, and were the glory of their times.
There be of them, that have left a name behind them, that their praises might be reported."

"And some there be, which have no memorial; who are perished, as though they had never been; and are become as though they had never been born; and their children after them.
But these were merciful men, whose righteousness hath not been forgotten.
With their seed shall continually remain a good inheritance, and their children are within the covenant.
Their seed standeth fast, and their children for their sakes.
Their seed shall remain for ever, and their glory shall not be blotted out.
Their bodies are buried in peace; but their name liveth for evermore.
The people will tell of their wisdom, and the congregation will shew forth their praise."

Sirach (Apocrypha) 44: 1-15 ( )

This version of an American classic, although paperback, has excellent picture reproduction. This is one of the most significant examples of a writer and a photographer, both accepted as major artists, working together on a book project, each applying their talents separately rather than one trying to illustrate the other.

For an important consideration of this masterwork see Stott's Documentary Expression and Thirties America.

"El libro que comentamos hoy es un clásico.
Fue publicado en 1936, como resultado del trabajo conjunto de un poeta, James Agee y de un fotógrafo, Walker Evans."de El ángel caido: http://www.elangelcaido.org/libros/030libro.html

The writing has a stream of consciousness feel to it that is sometimes engaging, sometimes tedious. The photographs are beautiful, and Agee portrays the lives of these tenant families with great sensitivity. ( )

Hated it even though it is a classic. Felt like a voyeur throughout. Definitely shows that time has changed. ( )