Dancing in the Dark and over 400,000 other books are available for Amazon Kindle – Amazon’s new wireless reading device. Learn more

 

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
More Buying Choices
41 used & new from £11.54
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Dancing in the Dark: A Cultural History of the Great Depression
 
See larger image 
Share your own customer images
Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.
Start reading Dancing in the Dark on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don t have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

Dancing in the Dark: A Cultural History of the Great Depression [Hardcover]

Morris Dickstein (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
RRP: £22.00
Price: £20.39 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £1.61 (7%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.
Only 2 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).
Want guaranteed delivery by Friday, September 10? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details
32 new from £11.54 9 used from £12.49

Formats

 Amazon Price New from Used from
Kindle Edition £17.33   -- --
Hardcover £20.39   £11.54 £12.49
Paperback --   -- £11.29
Audio, CD, Audiobook --   -- --
MP3 CD, Audiobook --   -- --

Frequently Bought Together

Customers buy this book with Family Britain, 1951-1957 (Tales of a New Jerusalem) by David Kynaston Paperback £5.50

Dancing in the Dark: A Cultural History of the Great Depression + Family Britain, 1951-1957 (Tales of a New Jerusalem)
Price For Both: £25.89

Show availability and delivery details

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The Thirties: An Intimate History

The Thirties: An Intimate History

by Juliet Gardiner
4.1 out of 5 stars (10)  £17.99
The World of Yesterday

The World of Yesterday

by Stefan Zweig
4.9 out of 5 stars (10)  £12.00
The Good Soldiers

The Good Soldiers

by David Finkel
5.0 out of 5 stars (6)  £8.67
Family Britain, 1951-1957 (Tales of a New Jerusalem)

Family Britain, 1951-1957 (Tales of a New Jerusalem)

by David Kynaston
4.5 out of 5 stars (24)  £5.50
Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815 (Oxford History of the United States)

Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815 (Oxford History of the United States)

by Gordon S. Wood
5.0 out of 5 stars (2)  £15.91
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Hardcover: 624 pages
  • Publisher: W. W. Norton & Co. (6 Oct 2009)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0393072258
  • ISBN-13: 978-0393072259
  • Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 16.3 x 4.3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 430,386 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

More About the Author

Morris Dickstein
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.

› Visit Amazon's Morris Dickstein Page

Customers Viewing This Page May Be Interested in These Sponsored Links

  (What is this?)
     Dark A opens new browser window
  Ask.com   -   Search for Dark A Find Dark A

Product Description

Product Description

From Astaire to Steinbeck, this timely and long-awaited history of the 1930s sets the creative energies of the Great Depression against a backdrop of poverty and economic disaster. Gathering a staggering range of materials - from images of rural poverty to zany screwball comedies, wildly popular swing band music and streamlined art 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 on the dynamic energy and insight the arts could provide and the enormous lift they gave to the American nation's morale. "Dancing in the Dark" shows how America's worst economic crisis, as it eroded individualism and punctured the American dream, produced some of the country's greatest writing, photography and mass entertainment.

About the Author

Morris Dickstein is the Distinguished Professor of English and Theatre at the City University of New York Graduate Center and the author of Gates of Eden and Leopards in the Temple, among other works.

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags
 

Customer Reviews

1 Review
5 star:
 (1)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
5.0 out of 5 stars American culture in the 1930's, 28 Mar 2010
This review is from: Dancing in the Dark: A Cultural History of the Great Depression (Hardcover)

Professor Dickstein writes in his introduction:
"My goal here is to explore the role of culture in reflecting and influencing how people understand their own lives and how they cope with social and economic malaise."

He comes close to achieving this ambition as he entertains, amuses, enlightens, and perhaps occasionally aggravates the reader along the way. More than 500 pages, but still the facility and the ability to come up with relevant anecdotes and detailed examples doesn't flag. The involvement the author has in his subject is catching. Even when I did not know much about a writer or had not seen the 1930's movie being analysed the style and the personal opinions voiced throughout added enough spice to keep up the interest level. For an academic book it is quite a page-turner!

To enjoy this book I think that the reader will need a fair degree of familiarity with, for example, John Steinbeck, Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner, as well as movies of the era, jazz and popular music. James Agee and Nathanael West would help but I am not sure how much they are read these days. That said there is enough to interest anyone who, for whatever reason, acquires this book

I have one caveat. Professor Dickstein writes as a fan, critical certainly, and comprehensively. But I am not sure he quite meets his objective. The hard-boiled short stories, the movie romances, the radio dramas, the soaps, get pretty short shrift, and may well have done more to keep those hardest hit by the Depression a little less depressed. Of course he knows that anyway, but it seemed to be worth a mention!

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 

Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject























i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Ad

Amazon.co.uk Privacy Statement Amazon.co.uk Delivery Information Amazon.co.uk Returns & Exchanges

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.