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A review by pemuth59
Dancing in the Dark: A Cultural History of the Great Depression by Morris Dickstein
3.0
"Cultural history" is a great concept. Accepting that history is more than wars and elections and politics, books like this can offer fascinating insights into what a period of time was like for those who lived through it. Morris Dickstein's "Dancing in the Dark" is only partially successful.
While often interesting, Dickstein's saga is seldom compelling. And it's hard to beat the 1930s for cultural drama. But, if you haven't read the books or seen the movies or heard the music, this can read like a textbook. So I somewhat enjoyed the sections about the movies and music, but not much about the books, although the sections on F. Scott Fitzgerald and John Steinbeck are quite good. Too often, though, Dickstein forces the average reader to follow his various theses, rather than doing what the great historical writers do -- bring history alive through great storytelling.
As the great rock poet Pete Townshend once said,"writing about music is like dancing about architecture." The same could be said for writing about culture -- it's hard to dance to a band with no rhythm.
While often interesting, Dickstein's saga is seldom compelling. And it's hard to beat the 1930s for cultural drama. But, if you haven't read the books or seen the movies or heard the music, this can read like a textbook. So I somewhat enjoyed the sections about the movies and music, but not much about the books, although the sections on F. Scott Fitzgerald and John Steinbeck are quite good. Too often, though, Dickstein forces the average reader to follow his various theses, rather than doing what the great historical writers do -- bring history alive through great storytelling.
As the great rock poet Pete Townshend once said,"writing about music is like dancing about architecture." The same could be said for writing about culture -- it's hard to dance to a band with no rhythm.