Keep on the sunny side

I heard a story on the radio this morning about the great literature and film that documents hard economic times. Earlier this week, I heard this story saying "it's art time in America again, because everybody's broke."

Hard times are good for art. It's an idea I talked about some in my review of the Dollmaker.

I'd love to get some comments from readers about how changes in the economy are affecting your art.

By the way, I recommend reading the book mentioned in the NPR story today, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, by James Agee with photography by Walker Evans. It's the story of a reporter writing a book about sharecroppers in Alabama in the 1930s. There's poverty, innocence, guilt, and a lot of details to set scenes. It's Agee's existential masterpiece.