Books published by The Popular Press

Contributors examine the literature that challenges widely held assumptions about the form of the family, familial authority patterns, and the function of courtship, marriage, and family life from the late eighteenth century to the present day. Topics include: the family as a microcosm of the larger political sphere in Charlotte Smith, Jane West, Elizabeth Fenwick, Mrs. Opie, and Mary Shelley, and alternatives to the nuclear patriarchal family in Charlotte Bronte, Harriet Jacobs, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and Mary Louisa Molesworth.

William Darby gives us a comprehensive and (mostly) sympathetic reading of over fifty novels and a few movies from the 1950s. He examines titles such as "Mandingo, The Invisible Man, I the Jury, Catcher in the Rye, Battle Cry, The Caine Mutiny, The Revolt of Mamie Stover, The Manchurian Candidate, Hawaii, The Bramble Bush, Peyton Place, Ten North Frederick, A Stone for Danny Fisher, The Bad Seed, Not as a Stranger, The Blackboard Jungle, From Here to Eternity, "and" Compulsion. "

Children s series fiction comprises tales incorporating innocence and hard reality along with romance, wit, and character. Heavy streaks of morality diminished as the entertainment element increased. Heroes performed in a wide range of adventures, but restrictions often kept heroines close to home. Series fiction peaked, then waned, but such writers as Beverly Cleary and Madeleine L Engle carried on the style."

A neglected genre that promises to shed light on the culture of consumption appears in the form of the daytime television game shows whose hegemonic message seems to convey and to justify a widespread obeisance to the mandate of materialism. A close analysis of the longest running game show, "The Price Is Right," suggests that all facets of this program combine to reinforce its central meaning as a ritualistic validation of consumption-oriented greed.

This anthology offers a sampling of fiction and poetry by veterans and non-veterans, seasoned writers and those who used their war experience as an incentive to begin writing.

Artist James Tissot compiled photographs of his work in three albums, which are reproduced in this book.

Through detailed analyses of documentary photography and radical literature, Silent Witnesses explores how working-class identity has been repressed and manipulated to fit the expectations of liberal politicians, radical authors, Marxist historians, feminist academics, and contemporary cultural theorists.

The President of the United States, says the Constitution, cannot act in many specified instances without the "advice and consent" of Congress. But "advice" is not a strong word. And taking or not taking advice is a fairly nebulous situation . . . creating an instability, a fundamental ambiguity, at the very heart of power, between the Congress and the President. It is this instability, and this wide-openness, that allows the free play of the more intangible types of power that begin where the constitution breaks off: sex, personality, and character. Things which are left out of civics textbooks are what Allen Drury took as his subject in such novels as Advise and Consent, A Shade of Difference, and Capable of Honor.

Elements of popular culture (such as literature and films) are major industries. This work shows how the methods of popular culture scholarship can be merged with those of marketing and consumer research.

This volume celebrates the craftsmanship of Michigan Union carpenters. Retired members of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters share pride in their skill and accomplishments, through edited oral histories in this volume. Their histories convey a sense of self, a sense of dignity, and an appreciation of the significance of their work.

The origins of baseball are controversial. James A. Vlasich discusses the debates between two men intimately involved in nineteenth-century baseball, Henry Chadwick and Albert G. Spalding. Abner Graves of the Mills Commission claimed that Abner Doubleday had invented the game and he had done it in Cooperstown, New York. This claim was scrutinized at the time but the myth became etched into baseball history. Through the years, however, some critics have questioned the Mills Commission report. The problem is that the Baseball Hall of Fame is built on this shaky foundation. The lack of diligence on the part of Spalding's self-appointed committee has led to a credibility gap for the baseball shrine that continues a half century after its dedication. Indeed, the story of the building of the Baseball Hall of Fame is filled with intrigue worthy of a political thriller.

The Great Art Hoax exposes the real fakery and hypocrisy of the art world: how art is manufactured and marketed; how the pathology of private possession drives up the price; and how false art is hyped as true art to the tune of millions of dollars. Jon Huer demonstrates convincingly that what the art market deals as art need not be art at all."

Bernarr Macfadden (1868 1955) entertained and instructed Americans for decades. He championed physical exercise, fasting, and diet reform and was the relentless scourge of established doctors. He presented his views in Physical Culture, a popular magazine featuring photographs of strong men and healthy women and articles promoting the healthy life. While some critics derided him as a health nut, no one could dispute his genius as a magazine publisher. He established the world s greatest magazine publishing empire through the innovation of such popular publications as True Story, the first confession magazine; True Detective; and many others."

The rituals of religion these days as practiced in the United States on television, have become big theatre, a big show. Televangelism is big business, amounting to billions of dollars each year. Televangelists discussed are Billy Graham, Jimmy Swaggert, Jerry Falwell, Jim and Tammy Bakker, Terry Cole-Whittaker, Marilyn Hickey, Danuto Rylko Soderman, and Beverly LaHaye.

Tent repertoire theatre as a form of popular entertainment caught on in the late 19th century, had its heyday in the 1920s, and was finished by the Depression and World War II gasoline rationing. The author examines this rise and fall in context of an increasingly urbanized society.

This book is a no-apologies introduction to Detective Fiction. It's written in an aggressive, modern English well-suited to a genre which has traditionally broken ground in terms of aggressive writing, contemporary scenarios, and tough dialogue.

The world of the defective detective was a strange one. Continuing the motif of the mythological hero, this unique detective type emerged in the 1930s in a very imperfect and threatened society. The stories reprinted in this volume reveal just how widely the genre ranged during the Depression.

"Flying for the Air Service" provides a realistic picture of the typical flying experiences of the pilots who flew for the fledgling American Air Service during World War I. The narrative describes two brothers from Boston, George and Gerard Hughes, as they progress from apprentice pilots to flight instructors and combat pilots. After completing their pilot training program together, both were assigned as instructors. Then George was sent to France with the 12th Aero Squadrom, where he flew two-place observation aircraft over the front lines. Gerard, meanwhile, remained in America, instructing students in Texas. Eventually Gerard joined his brother's squadron in France as the war ended. Through the detailed letters and narrative comments of these two pilots, we can see clearly the hazards and challenges that were faced by those who flew in the early years of American aviation.

Why do humans continue to hunt and fish for sport, especially in the face of growing public opposition? Why are the social sciences so reluctant to investigate these popular human sporting recreations? How do the new technological advances in hunting and fishing equipment affect the sporting standards of "fair play?" How are hunting and fishing portrayed in the popular culture media of film and boys' adventure literature? These questions and more are answered by the author who takes the reader afield with him as he travels to various parts of three continents in order to experience first-hand what commercial hunting opportunities offer their customers.

This volume presents archeological studies in conjunction with cultural anthropological studies as a means to enhance popular culture studies. Scholar Malcolm K. Shuman points out that the study of archeology must be careful to chart the total human content of an artifact, because archeology "is a profoundly human (and humanizing) endeavor that cannot be divorced from the matrix of human life." The other ten essays cover aspects of archeology and cultural anthropology, and the authors are meticulous in studying their subject in context.

In the twentieth century Marxism challenged laissez-faire economics, psychoanalysis reinterpreted the processes of thought, and evolution discredited the idea of creation. These changes profoundly affected American Protestantism. Ferre examines the belief system that underlies what middle-class Protestants chose to read."

Over one hundred twenty formula romance novels are churned out every month. These romantic fantasies for women are big business and earn huge profits for the companies that publish them. Love s $weet Return examines the phenomenon of romance fiction, focusing specifically on one of the most successful book publishers in the world, the Canadian-based Harlequin Enterprises. Margaret Jensen details the rise of the company, examines the Harlequin formula, and evaluates the growth and impact of both Harlequin and its competition. She also assesses recent shifts in the content of Harlequins, particularly as they pertain to women's changing roles in society."

The story of Irvin S. Cobb is a fascinating one for many reasons. His life was not unusual at the time: a Horatio Alger rise from poor boy to world authority through hard work. Associate of celebrities of all kinds for two decades, he died in Hollywood virtually forgotten, having outlived the world he grew up in and which appreciated him.

The late James M. Cain was a newspaperman, playwright, and novelist. Although best known for his controversial novels (The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity, Mildred Pierce, Serenade, The Butterfly, and Past All Dishonor), Cain always considered himself a journalist, a "newpaperman who wrote yarns on the side." The book includes some of Cain's best articles and essays. The material is sometimes serious, sometimes humorous and provides a unique look at 60 years of history.

Although libraries and museums for many centuries have taken the lead, under one rational or another, in recovering, storing, and displaying various kinds of culture of their periods, lately, as the gap between elite and popular culture has apparently widened, these repositories of artifacts of the present for the future have tended to drift more and more to what many people call the aesthetically pleasing elements of our culture. The degree to which our libraries and museums have ignored our culture is terrifying, when one scans the documents and artifacts of our time which, if history in any wise repeats itself, will in the immediate and distant future become valuable indices of our present culture to future generations. As Professor Schroeder dramatically states it, No doubt about it, it is the contemporary popular culture that is the endangered species. The essays in this book investigate the reasons for present-day neglect of popular culture materials and chart the various routes by which conscientious and insightful librarians and museum directors can correct this disastrous oversight."

Focusing on the origins and development of the hard-boiled story, Panek comments on the way it has changed since the 1970s and examines the work of ten significant contemporary writers: Robert B. Parker; James Crumley; Loren Estleman; Sara Paretsky; Robert Crais; James Lee Burke; and Walter Mosley.

John le Carre is viewed by many critics as one of the best spy and espionage novel writers. His most famous works are The Spy Who Came in from the Cold; Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; and The Little Drummer Girl. Peter Wolfe has produced an informative study of le Carre s works, showing how le Carre s five years in the Service (British Intelligence) helped him become a keen observer, social historian, and expert in bureaucratic politics. He has supplanted the technological flair marking much of today's spy fiction with moral complexity and psychological depth. He shows us what spies are like, how they feel about spying, and how spying affects their minds and hearts."