|
Showing 1 - 12 of
12 matches in All Departments
This title, originally published in 1985, examines conceptions of
success and the good life expressed in bestselling novels - ranging
from historical sagas and spy thrillers to more serious works by
Updike, Bellows, Steinbeck and Mailer - published from 1945 to
1975. Using these popular books as cultural evidence, Elizabeth
Long argues that the meaning of the American dream has changed
dramatically, but in a more complex fashion than has been
recognised by that country's most prominent social critics. Her
study presents a challenge to prevailing social-scientific views of
contemporary American culture, and represents, both in theory and
method, an important contribution to the study of culture and
social criticism.
This title, originally published in 1985, examines conceptions of
success and the good life expressed in bestselling novels - ranging
from historical sagas and spy thrillers to more serious works by
Updike, Bellows, Steinbeck and Mailer - published from 1945 to
1975. Using these popular books as cultural evidence, Elizabeth
Long argues that the meaning of the American dream has changed
dramatically, but in a more complex fashion than has been
recognised by that country's most prominent social critics. Her
study presents a challenge to prevailing social-scientific views of
contemporary American culture, and represents, both in theory and
method, an important contribution to the study of culture and
social criticism.
Book clubs are everywhere these days. And women talk about the
clubs they belong to with surprising emotion: "You will never know
what a difference it made in my life". But why are the clubs so
important to them? Which women join book clubs and why? And what do
the women discuss when they meet? To answer questions like these,
Elizabeth Long spent years observing and participating in women's
book clubs in the Houston area and interviewing members from dozens
of different discussion groups. Far from being an isolated
activity, she finds that for club members reading is an active and
social pursuit, a crucial way for them to reflect creatively on the
meaning of their lives and their place in the social order. Similar
to their 19th-century predecessors, whom Long also considers, women
today find in reading groups the inspiration, support and
self-confidence to reimagine themselves both individually and
collectively. Tracing how this process works, Long takes us on a
guided tour of the book clubs themselves, from how they are formed
and organized to how members choose which books to read. Through
vivid examples, she shows how women use literature to achieve
personal insight and empowerment. She then turns her attention to
the emergence of book clubs that are run through chain bookstores,
television shows and the Internet, and considers the importance of
such clubs for women as a broader cultural forum. Far from just an
excuse to get together once a month, book clubs are here revealed
to be a vital arena for self-formation, one that has as much
currency now as it did a century ago.
Additional Author Is Byron T. Hipple. Foreword By Joseph P. Harris.
Additional Author Is Byron T. Hipple. Foreword By Joseph P. Harris.
Book clubs are everywhere these days. And women talk about the
clubs they belong to with surprising emotion: "You will never know
what a difference it made in my life". But why are the clubs so
important to them? Which women join book clubs and why? And what do
the women discuss when they meet? To answer questions like these,
Elizabeth Long spent years observing and participating in women's
book clubs in the Houston area and interviewing members from dozens
of different discussion groups. Far from being an isolated
activity, she finds that for club members reading is an active and
social pursuit, a crucial way for them to reflect creatively on the
meaning of their lives and their place in the social order. Similar
to their 19th-century predecessors, whom Long also considers, women
today find in reading groups the inspiration, support and
self-confidence to reimagine themselves both individually and
collectively. Tracing how this process works, Long takes us on a
guided tour of the book clubs themselves, from how they are formed
and organized to how members choose which books to read. Through
vivid examples, she shows how women use literature to achieve
personal insight and empowerment. She then turns her attention to
the emergence of book clubs that are run through chain bookstores,
television shows and the Internet, and considers the importance of
such clubs for women as a broader cultural forum. Far from just an
excuse to get together once a month, book clubs are here revealed
to be a vital arena for self-formation, one that has as much
currency now as it did a century ago.
|
You may like...
Global Politics
Andrew Heywood
Paperback
(2)
R610
R576
Discovery Miles 5 760
|