Marling tells the complex story with unflagging gusto, wit, and learning.

It’s impossible in this limited space to do justice to the vast range Marling covers, the scores of amusing anecdotes she tells or the variety of provocative questions she poses. Wall-to-Wall America is a groundbreaking book.

This book is an outstanding example of how to restore art to the larger culture and to see it as social expression for both artist and audience.

This work raises serious questions about public art patronage.

Marling has created one of the freshest and finest contributions to the study of American culture in the last generation.