Frank Lloyd Wright and his Manner of Thought by Jerome Klinkowitz (review)

Another book about Frank Lloyd Wright? Though seemingly unnecessary, Frank Lloyd Wright and His Manner of Thought is exactly what is needed to examine the popular architect and societal figure from a completely new perspective. Employing a completely fresh approach, author Klinkowitz delves in to the life, career, and times of Frank Lloyd Wright with delightful abandon and outstanding result.

Arguably the most popular of American architects, Frank Lloyd Wright led a long and long-since celebrated career, a storied life, and has made an indelible impression on American design and culture. Many widely-available volumes survey his life and work. Klinkowitz, however, leaves the more typical assessment aside and examines Frank Lloyd Wright through the lens of his thought process. This compelling, refreshing, and absolutely fascinating approach leaves no document unturned and no story untold and would be especially of interest to architects and urban planners. This is not a volume that focuses so much on what Frank Lloyd Wright did or who he was, but instead is a meticulously researched volume that relies upon careful archival research to examine the reasons why Wright pursued a road that was neither simple nor direct. In Frank Lloyd Wright and His Manner of Thought, Klinkowitz engages his readers, calling upon them to consider what made Wright tick, as well as what made him a celebrated architect. The result is positively riveting.

Too often, Frank Lloyd Wright is lampooned as a difficult or demanding figure that bullied his clients and in some ways obstructed his own success. Klinkowitz gets inside of Wright’s imaginative headspace and gently dissects the inner workings of one of the most prolific architects in American history. Klinkowitz carefully explains to the reader the reasons and rationale behind this behavior against a backdrop of twentieth-century industrialization and a zeitgeist that frames the century-long quest for a better quality of life. The book begins with a compelling introduction, “Truth against the World,” which examines the fuel for Wright’s creative spirit and unique point of view. Though Klinkowitz has chosen not to present research that encircles specific projects and periods throughout Wright’s life (as have many other biographers and chroniclers), and in doing so, the author avoids simply providing a historical catalog or chronology of the architect’s work. Instead Klinkowitz carefully weaves a compelling tapestry of historical record, introspective account, and thoughtful analysis.

This book is free from unnecessarily obtuse language and is undeniably engaging, informative, and thought-provoking. Frank Lloyd Wright and His Manner of Thought is truly a pleasure to read and a significant contribution to an already crowded collection of literature that chronicles this celebrated American architect, designer, and urban planner. Truly this book will be as engaging for a broad audience of readers from architects and designers to historians and popular culturalists.