Books by Karal Ann Marling

It wouldn't be Christmas without the "things." How they came to mean so much, and to play such a prominent role in America's central holiday, is the tale told in this delightful and edifying book. In a style characteristically engaging and erudite, Marling describes the outsize spectacle that Christmas has become.

From prom scenes to Thanksgiving spreads, returning servicemen to smiling boy scouts, the works of Norman Rockwell are imbued with optimism, patriotism, community, and family. Brimming with wholesome cheer, they say as much about his artistic talents as they do about the popular values and aspirations of 20th-century America.

From the painting-by-numbers fad to the public fascination with the First Lady's apparel to the television sensation of Elvis Presley to the sculptural refinement of the automobile, Marling explores what Americans saw and what they looked for in the 1950s with a gaze newly trained by TV.

Between the cultural ephemera, folklore, song, and history embedded in Moses' paintings and the potent advertising shorthand for Americana that her images rapidly became, this book reveals the widespread longing for the memories, comforts, and small victories of a mythic, intimate American past tapped by the phenomenon of Grandma Moses.