Contempo (1929) one of my favorite Vassos books

I am so excited to have found a copy of Contempo: This Modern Tempo with a rare cover. This was John and Ruth Vasoss's first independent book published in 1929 by E.P. Dutton.  The book is critical of mass society and urban life which is why I like it so much and find it relevant today. John Vassos explained the book's goals as such in the introduction. He wrote that Contempo is “my first book of commentary on our Society, in which all our misconceptions and dead-ends come [under] scrutiny. . . . The book evokes criticism and controversy.”[i] In this book, they critiqued the major institutions of American life: mass media, transportation, banks, and religion, in a sweeping dismissal. For example, the text for "Traffic" describes it chillingly as a “Frankenstein that is choking our cities.” Ruth Vassos writes. “More and more powerful it grows, insidiously, it uncoils its length. It belches smoke, our lungs are filled with its poisonous breath. Our cities are disfigured.”[i]  Writers gravitated towards the critical approach that Contempo inspired. Vassos allowed his friend - writer and editor - Tony Buttitta to use the title and graphic image for his progressive magazine published out of Chapel Hill, North Carolina between 1931 and 1934 and co-edited by Milton Abernethy. It featured writers like Langston Hughes, William Faulkner, Erskine Caldwell, and Julia Peterkin. Contempo was criticized among Southern political elite for its anti-racist position as documented in this excellent article from Modernism/modernity. Vassos expanded his of American life with a scathing criticism of racism and economic inequality offered in his book Humanities.

[i] See “Pictured Modernism,” review of Contempo, Gazette, Cedar Rapids, IA, November 3, 1929, Box 2, Vassos/AAA; “Modern Life Seen in Book,” Standard, New Bedford, MA, November 3, 1929, Box 2, Vassos/AAA..

[ii] Vassos, unpublished autobiography, Box 12, Vassos/AAA.

[i] “Traffic,” in John Vassos and Ruth Vassos, Contempo: This American Tempo (New York: Dutton, 1929), not paginated. [hereafter Contempo]

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