American Culture in the 1920s

The 1920s saw the United States rise to its current status as the leading world superpower, matched by an emerging cultural dominance that characterized the second half of the twentieth century. This book provides an stimulating account of the major cultural and intellectual trends of the decade that have been pivotal to its characterization as 'the jazz age'. Currell's book places common representations of the 'roaring twenties' and the 'lost generation' into context through chapters on literature, music and performance, film and radio, and visual art and design, alongside the unprecedented rise of leisure and consumption in the 1920s. Key Features *3 case studies per chapter featuring key texts, genres, writers and artists *Chronology of 1920s American Culture *Bibliographies for each chapter *17 black and white illustrations

Susan Currell is a Senior Lecturer in American Literature at the University of Sussex. She is author of The March of Spare Time: The Problem and Promise of Leisure During the 1930s (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005) and co-editor of Popular Eugenics: National Efficiency and American Mass Culture (University of Ohio Press, 2006).