Dreams of Chaos, Visions of Order: Understanding the American Avant-Garde Cinema - Paperbackby James Peterson (Author) This is a controversial book that examines the implicit assumptions of other scholars, advocates an alternative to dominant approaches to the avant garde cinema, and questions some long standing clichs about the history of the avant garde. In spite of the difficulty of most American avant garde films, one can read volumes and find almost no mention of how to view these films. Dreams of Chaos, Visions of Order addresses