Confessional Crises and Cultural Politics in Twentieth-Century America

“Confessional Crises and Cultural Politics in Twentieth-Century America is a very smart work. It tackles the subject of public confession in a new way. Rather than identifying generic characteristics of apology and then determining that particular rhetorical acts do or do not satisfy these characteristics, Dave Tell treats the components of confession as fluid and as themselves subject to rhetorical evaluation. He examines six case studies in which a text is alleged to be a confession and makes a compelling argument that there are political stakes and consequences in the decision to label a text a confession as well as in the decision to contest that label. Tell's analysis challenges conventional wisdom over and over again. The reader will be amply rewarded with a depth of knowledge and insight about each of these significant historical moments, and he or she will have renewed appreciation for the working of rhetorical texts in history.” —David H. Zarefsky, past president of the National Communication Association and the Rhetoric Society of America

“David Tell's book is a worthy addition to the scholarly literature on confessional culture. I especially appreciate his clear and forceful prose style and the freedom of the work from scholarly jargon and disciplinary narrowness.” —James Aune, Texas A&M University