A compact late-70s survey of Marxist approaches to art, aesthetics, realism, cultural struggle, socialist realism, and the politics of artistic production.

Laing moves through the big pressure points — Lukács, Brecht, Benjamin, Mao, Soviet debates, realism, class, ideology — without pretending art can be cleanly separated from the social machinery around it. Sensible, useful, very much of its theoretical moment.

Good for readers interested in Marxist aesthetics, cultural theory, art criticism, socialist realism, and the long argument over whether art reflects the world, transforms it, mystifies it, or simply sits in the corner smoking and refusing the paperwork.

Paperback. First published in Great Britain by The Harvester Press in 1978; US edition by Humanities Press. Part of the Marxist Theory & Contemporary Capitalism Series. Used copy with shelf wear/scuffing to cover, but structurally sound and readable.