Balancing Acts: American Thought and Culture in the 1930s (Studies in the American Thought and Culture Series)
Today's culture wars, suggests Cooney (The Rise of the New York Intellectuals, Univ. of Wisconsin Pr., 1986), might be viewed in light of the 1930s, when economic cataclysm shook to pieces inherited values and changed modes of expression as various as politics, design, movies, magazines, advertising, photography, and books. Old verities gave way to multiplicity, which itself can be a model for cultural coherence. Weighing competing visions in the "balancing acts" of the book's title, Americans experienced and shaped these years in ways not easily labeled "radical" or "conservative." Several earlier works have explored the era's culture, notably Alice Goldfarb Marquis's Hopes and Ashes (LJ 12/86). While Cooney's book supplants none of them, his range is the widest. Honoring historical complexity and nuance, this insightful book will be accessible to many undergraduates and will be widely used in libraries supporting graduate programs.Robert F. Nardini, North Chichester, N.H.Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.