What do artists read? What articles, books, reviews — and cartoons, cookbooks, memoirs and film scripts — influence their work? Here are some answers from the participating artists in the Uncertain States of America exhibition in Oslo and London in 2005. This book, a companion to the exhibition catalog, is an eclectic compilation of material that gives the reader a deeper insight into the influences that created the show. From Dora Apel’s Art Journal article on Torture Culture to Giorgio Agamben’s Le Monde piece on his refusal to visit the United States because he will not allow electronic archiving of his fingerprints, this is a thought-provoking reader for our times. Contributions by Julian Stallabrass, Johanna Burton, Isabelle Graw, Andrea Fraser, Pamela M. Lee, Miwon Kwon, Matthew Jesse Jackson, Jack Bankowsky, Chris Kraus, David Barringer, Bernadette Corporation, Seth Price, Kirk Varnedoe, Tim Griffin, Ralph Rugoff, Matt Wolf, Hamza Walker, Paul Chan, Giorgio Agamben, Critical Art Ensemble, Gregory Sholette, Alan Gilbert, Robert Morris, Iain Boal, T.J. Clark, Joseph Matthews, Michael Watts, Dora Apel, Kymberly N. Pinder, Molly Nesbit, Trisha Donnelly.