"Eisenstein's elaborate study, in four essays and fragments, of the use of dialectical thinking in the creation of art and literature. Drawing on major works from Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Balzac, Gogol, Mayakovsky, Dostoevsky, [especially Edgar Allan Poe, also Steinbeck, Chesterton], and more, and ranging from folk tales to contemporary detective stories, it shows the keenly analytic quality of Eisenstein's mind when it turned to questions of creative work."--