Review by Choice Review
The literature on Gramsci is already so extensive that one might ask: What can still another book possibly add? Yet, this rich and provocative volume by Germino, a respected student of the history of political theory, does indeed map terrain that heretofore has been largely uncharted. His objective is not to produce "just another biography" such as those of Davidson and Guiseppi Fiori, nor is it to produce "just another study of his ideas" such as those of Walter Adamson and Joseph Femia. Rather, through an analysis of the Cahiers de Prison (1983), and of Gramsci's earlier writings, his letters, and interviews with his contemporaries, Germino seeks to link Gramsci's political theory with his personal experience. Arguing that there is an uninterrupted coherent theoretical outlook throughout Gramsci's life, he proposes to trace that outlook by focusing on Gramsci's theory of a new politics--a politics of including the excluded that had its inspiration in Gramsci's own marginality. On the whole, Germino succeeds both in his project and in avoiding the pitfalls of psychological reductionism. Of primary interest to students of Gramsci's life and thought, but useful to political theorists as well. A short index and, unfortunately, no bibliography. For libraries serving advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty. G. L. Jones University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
