First published some 60 years ago by Austrian communist journalist and cultural commentator Fischer (1899-1972), this influential meditation on the relationship of art to social reality rejected the more dogmatic elements of communist social realism, insisting that art "is never merely a clinical description of reality," but instead should serve "to move the whole man, to enable the `I' to identify itself with another's life." Art, in Fischer's view, "is necessary in order that man should be able to recognize and change the world. But art is also necessary by virtue of the magic inherent in it." His combination of Marxist and humanist perspectives on the nature and function of art led him to embrace many artists who had been declared "decadent" by other communists and led to calls for his expulsion from the Communist Party. Included in this new translated edition is an introductory essay by John Berger (the Booker Prize-winning author of G, in addition to other respected works), recalling Berger's visit with Fischer, his wife, and his translator on the day of Fischer's unexpected death from a heart attack. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)