false 667914 1 Dewitt and Lila Wallace founded <i>Reader's Digest</i> in the 1930s to provide edifying articles for people who often read little else. Canning, a former Digest managing editor, has written an in-depth history of the Wallaces' project, which turned into a publishing phenomenon. While he shows due respect to the Wallaces for their early struggles, their generosity to staff and their philanthropy, the author reveals unDigest-like details of their unusual sex lives, and more tellingly documents considerable government interference with the magazine's content. In the 1940s and 50s the CIA fed articles to the Digest. During the Vietnam War it was stridently hawkish, and Richard Nixon's speeches formed the basis of editorials. While too many Digest stories have had the insipid flavor of packaged pieces of puffed-up positive thinking, Canning's history is stronger stuff. 653960 7 11 1996 American Dreamers: The Wallaces and The Reader's Digest: An Insider's Story total:4|5:2|4:0|3:2|2:0|1:0| 4 16 31 1 5 0 false false Thu Nov 20 17:43:46 -0800 2008 Thu Nov 20 17:45:29 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Mon Nov 02 01:56:16 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 02 01:56:16 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Sat Oct 31 14:02:10 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 31 14:02:10 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Fri Nov 27 08:15:30 -0800 2009 Sun Oct 04 13:25:48 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 04 13:25:53 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Aug 05 19:46:31 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 05 19:46:31 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Jul 02 20:38:27 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 02 20:38:48 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Jun 26 17:10:08 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 26 17:10:08 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Jun 12 13:43:27 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 12 13:43:27 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun May 17 08:57:29 -0700 2009 Sun May 17 08:57:29 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun Apr 19 12:22:27 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 19 12:22:27 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Mar 26 07:38:04 -0700 2009 Thu Mar 26 07:38:04 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Fri Feb 20 09:47:42 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 20 09:48:06 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Sat Jan 10 05:15:13 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 10 05:15:13 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Wed Jan 07 10:44:46 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 07 10:44:51 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Thu Jan 01 07:10:21 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 01 07:10:23 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Wed Dec 31 16:24:20 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 31 16:24:20 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Sat Dec 27 12:05:46 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 27 12:05:55 -0800 2008 3 0 false false Thu Dec 25 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 25 10:24:22 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 25 10:24:46 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Mon Dec 08 11:14:11 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 08 11:14:13 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Sun Nov 30 20:28:41 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 30 20:28:41 -0800 2008 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=667914