Inventing the Public Enemy: The Gangster in American Culture, 1918-1934 - Couverture souple

Ruth, David E. E.

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0226732185 ISBN 13 : 9780226732183

Editeur : University of Chicago Press, 1996

Synopsis

Book by Ruth David E

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

In this richly detailed account of mass media images, David Ruth looks at Al Capone and other "invented" gangsters of the 1920s and 1930s. The subject of innumerable newspaper and magazine articles, scores of novels, and hundreds of Hollywood movies, the gangster was a compelling figure for Americans preoccupied with crime and the social turmoil it symbolized. Ruth shows that the media gangster was less a reflection of reality than a projection created from Americans' values, concerns, and ideas about what would sell.

We see efficient criminal executives demonstrating the multifarious uses of organization; dapper, big-spending gangsters highlighting the promises and perils of the emerging consumer society; and gunmen and molls guiding an uncertain public through the shifting terrain of modern gender roles. In this fascinating study, Ruth reveals how the public enemy provides a far-ranging critique of modern culture.

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: University of Chicago Press
• Date d'édition: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0226732185
• ISBN 13: 9780226732183
• Reliure: Broché
• Numéro d'édition: 2
• Nombre de pages: 200