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A Cultural History Of The Great Depression
W.W. Norton & Co.
September 2009
On Sale: September 14, 2009
624 pages
ISBN: 0393072258
EAN: 9780393072259
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
From Agee to Astaire, Steinbeck to Ellington, the creative
energies of the Depression against a backdrop of poverty and
economic disaster. In this timely and long-awaited cultural
history of the 1930s, Morris Dickstein, whom Norman Mailer
called “one of our best and most distinguished critics of
American literature,” explores the anxiety and hope, the
despair and surprising optimism of distressed Americans at a
time of dire economic dislocation. Bringing together a
staggering range of materials—from epic Dust Bowl migrations
and sharecropper photographs to zany screwball comedies,
wildly popular swing bands, and streamlined Deco
designs—this eloquent work highlights the pivotal role of
culture and government intervention in hard times. Exploding
the myth that Depression culture was merely escapist, it
concentrates instead on the dynamic energy and insight the
arts could provide and the enormous lift they gave to the
nation’s morale. Dancing in the Dark shows how our worst
economic crisis, as it eroded American individualism and
punctured the American dream, produced some of the greatest
writing, photography, and mass entertainment ever seen in
this country. 24 illustrations.
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