Reviews for 1927 and the Rise of Modern America

The average rating for 1927 and the Rise of Modern America based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-03-07 00:00:00 Josh Day Interesting info about the growth of radio and popular culture.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-12-27 00:00:00 Frances Frischkorn An interesting examination of the 20s. The only gripe I had was his emphasis on the events leading up to the events of '27 and not event themselves. For instance, he only sparingly mentions Linbergh's flight, though he markets its importance in the introduction. One of the bright spots, however, was his analysis on the changing roles of women in modern society. I really enjoyed his input on Mary Pickford and Clara Bow as well as other less notable artists, feminists, etc. He could've went deeper into the Harlem Renaissance though. Too often Shindo would restate his claim rather than provide concrete evidence for his explanation. In the conclusion, he redeems himself with a well analyzed couple pages of My Egypt (a brilliant modern painting). I recommend this book for the casual reader willing to take what they already know about the tradition vs modern mentality of the 20s (around the world) and willing to question Shindo's opinion with their own. For the most part, you won't find anything new as you would in, lets say, Franz Kafka's In The Penal Colony, Virginia Woolf's To The Lighthouse (in a micro-scale, and from a lit. perspective) or many other Avant-Garde writers for that matter. Shindo is adamant that there isn't a modernism because it intertwined with traditional Victorian values, and he defends himself well, albeit he isn't entirely correct. Even Americans like Louis Armstrong sought the avant-garde modernisms in the dying embers of Victorian ideology, but, overall, Shindo does a good job at bringing the 20s to life.