The steady rise of Clint Eastwood's career parallels apressing desire in American society over the past five decades fora figure and story of purpose, meaning, and redemption. Eastwoodhas not only told and filmed that story, he has come to embody itfor many in his public image and film persona. Eastwood responds toa national yearning for a vision of individual action andinitiative, personal responsibility, and potential for renewal. Aniconic director and star for his westerns, urban thrillers, andadventure stories, Eastwood has taken film art to new horizons ofmeaning in a series of masterpieces that engage the ethical andmoral consciousness of our times, including Unforgiven,Million Dollar Baby, and Mystic River. Herevolutionized the war film with the unprecedented achievement offilming the opposing sides of the same historic battle in Flagsof Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima, using thissaga to present a sharply critical representation of the newAmerica that emerged out of the war, a society of images andspectacles.This timely examination of Clint Eastwood's oeuvre againstthe backdrop of contemporary America will be fascinating readingfor students of film and popular culture, as well as readers withinterests in Eastwood's work, American film and culture.

Acknowledgments viiiAbbreviations xiiIntroduction: Eastwood's America - From the Self toa World View 11 The First Twenty Years: Borderline States of Mind 242 Unforgiven: The Search for Redemption 703 Mo Cuishle: A New Religion in Million Dollar Baby 1164 Cries from Mystic River: God, Transcendence, and a TroubledHumanity 1725 Flags of Our Fathers/Letters from Iwo Jima: History Lessons onTime and the Stranger 231Notes and References 284Index 301