What do you think?
Rate this book
Beyond the Gray Flannel Suit: Books from the 1950s that Made American Culture
This examination and celebration of the literature and thought of the 1950s throws the enduring works of a golden era into high relief. An unconventional tour of a crucial period in 20th-century culture, the present book avoids sweeping surveys and gets to the heart of major achievement.
After the great renaissance of the 1920s and early 1930s, American modernism seemed to be stalled, to be awaiting another burst of talent. The post-World War II period provided that new energy and genius, with book after book that broke through the ordinary realistic atmosphere of bestseller lists, and offered experimentation, arresting content, and transformation of old literary forms.
In short, from the late 1940s through the JFK years, America was the home office of literary innovation. Writers forged new styles with the rapidly changing times, and generated new ideas that fit the challenges of late modernity.
Beyond the Gray Flannel Suit shows how particular landmark books took on the hot-button subjects of the 1950s-race and religious difference; social class and the suburbs; the youth culture; rebellion, conformity, and groupthink; the telling conflicts over taste and judgment-and how, in the process, whether we realize it or not, this body of super-charged literature shaped today's American culture.
After the great renaissance of the 1920s and early 1930s, American modernism seemed to be stalled, to be awaiting another burst of talent. The post-World War II period provided that new energy and genius, with book after book that broke through the ordinary realistic atmosphere of bestseller lists, and offered experimentation, arresting content, and transformation of old literary forms.
In short, from the late 1940s through the JFK years, America was the home office of literary innovation. Writers forged new styles with the rapidly changing times, and generated new ideas that fit the challenges of late modernity.
Beyond the Gray Flannel Suit shows how particular landmark books took on the hot-button subjects of the 1950s-race and religious difference; social class and the suburbs; the youth culture; rebellion, conformity, and groupthink; the telling conflicts over taste and judgment-and how, in the process, whether we realize it or not, this body of super-charged literature shaped today's American culture.
- GenresNonfiction
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 19, 2011
‘In the landmark books, nothing is meant to be, everything challenges.’
I picked up this book on a whim, struggled through the introduction, and then became caught in David Castronovo’s choices and assessments of books. ‘This book is about the remarkable literary explosion that took place between the late 1940s and the Kennedy years. It looks closely at the landmark works that are breakthroughs in American literature.’
Would Americans agree that the 1950s was a particularly creative period, and the basis of the modern American spirit? Would Americans agree that American modernism stalled after the 1920s and 1930s? And those of us who are not American: how do we view the authors and books discussed?
The works discussed include Ralph Ellison (Invisible Man); Saul Bellow (The Adventures of Augie March), Bernard Malamud (The Magic Barrow); Flannery O’Connor (A Good Man is Hard to Find) in a discussion about moving American literature beyond the borders of naturalism. The novels involved in a discussion about the consciousness of youth include J D Salinger (The Catcher in the Rye); Jack Kerouac (On the Road) and Allen Ginsburg (Howl). My favourite part of the book was the discussion around thrillers, which included Cornell Woolrich (I Married a Dead Man); Jim Thompson (The Killer Inside Me); Patricia Highsmith (The Talented Mr Ripley) and David Goodis (Down There). I’ve not read the books included in David Castronovo’s discussion about rebellion and the situation of outsiders: Nelson Algren (The Man With the Golden Arm) and Norman Mailer (Advertisements for Myself) but I am tempted.
The further I read into this book, the more interested I became. I am familiar with Vladimir Nabokov’s ‘Lolita’ but not with either Dawn Powell’s ‘The Golden Spur’ or Randall Jarrell’s ‘Pictures from an Institution’. I am tempted, too, to read Philip Roth’s ‘Goodbye, Columbus’ and John Cheever’s ‘The Housebreaker of Shady Hill’, along with some other books discussed by David Castronovo.
I don’t know enough about 20th century American culture before the 1960s, when it became particularly influential in Australian culture, to appreciate all of the points David Castronovo makes. But it isn’t necessary to accept each of these points in order to appreciate that the post-World War II literature has its own energy and to want to read (or reread) the books discussed.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
I picked up this book on a whim, struggled through the introduction, and then became caught in David Castronovo’s choices and assessments of books. ‘This book is about the remarkable literary explosion that took place between the late 1940s and the Kennedy years. It looks closely at the landmark works that are breakthroughs in American literature.’
Would Americans agree that the 1950s was a particularly creative period, and the basis of the modern American spirit? Would Americans agree that American modernism stalled after the 1920s and 1930s? And those of us who are not American: how do we view the authors and books discussed?
The works discussed include Ralph Ellison (Invisible Man); Saul Bellow (The Adventures of Augie March), Bernard Malamud (The Magic Barrow); Flannery O’Connor (A Good Man is Hard to Find) in a discussion about moving American literature beyond the borders of naturalism. The novels involved in a discussion about the consciousness of youth include J D Salinger (The Catcher in the Rye); Jack Kerouac (On the Road) and Allen Ginsburg (Howl). My favourite part of the book was the discussion around thrillers, which included Cornell Woolrich (I Married a Dead Man); Jim Thompson (The Killer Inside Me); Patricia Highsmith (The Talented Mr Ripley) and David Goodis (Down There). I’ve not read the books included in David Castronovo’s discussion about rebellion and the situation of outsiders: Nelson Algren (The Man With the Golden Arm) and Norman Mailer (Advertisements for Myself) but I am tempted.
The further I read into this book, the more interested I became. I am familiar with Vladimir Nabokov’s ‘Lolita’ but not with either Dawn Powell’s ‘The Golden Spur’ or Randall Jarrell’s ‘Pictures from an Institution’. I am tempted, too, to read Philip Roth’s ‘Goodbye, Columbus’ and John Cheever’s ‘The Housebreaker of Shady Hill’, along with some other books discussed by David Castronovo.
I don’t know enough about 20th century American culture before the 1960s, when it became particularly influential in Australian culture, to appreciate all of the points David Castronovo makes. But it isn’t necessary to accept each of these points in order to appreciate that the post-World War II literature has its own energy and to want to read (or reread) the books discussed.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
January 6, 2010
Half way through the first chapter of this book I decided it was dull as tombs.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews