American Manners & Morals

Fülszöveg

"W "W Then asked her opinion of Americans, English author Virginia Woolf repliH, V V "the best way of illustrating the diflfer-ence is to bid you observe that while we have shadows that stalk behind us, they have a light that dances in front of them. That is what makes them the most interesting people in the world— they face the future, not the past."
It is this special trait that makes American Manners Morals such an exciting and entertaining book. Here is an eye-opening account of how Americans—ever with their eye on tomorrow —have moved from prayer-reading Puritanism to an uptight era of direct confrontation.
The book begins in the early 1600's with America's first settlers and ends in the late 1960's with today's unsettled youth. In those three and one
half centuries Americans have experimented with everything from bundling boards to bathtub gin. We've survived them all, and found the moral strength to try again.
Never before in a single volume have all the major... Tovább

Fülszöveg

"W "W Then asked her opinion of Americans, English author Virginia Woolf repliH, V V "the best way of illustrating the diflfer-ence is to bid you observe that while we have shadows that stalk behind us, they have a light that dances in front of them. That is what makes them the most interesting people in the world— they face the future, not the past."
It is this special trait that makes American Manners Morals such an exciting and entertaining book. Here is an eye-opening account of how Americans—ever with their eye on tomorrow —have moved from prayer-reading Puritanism to an uptight era of direct confrontation.
The book begins in the early 1600's with America's first settlers and ends in the late 1960's with today's unsettled youth. In those three and one
half centuries Americans have experimented with everything from bundling boards to bathtub gin. We've survived them all, and found the moral strength to try again.
Never before in a single volume have all the major periods of change and controversy that mark our self-conscious search for an Americaiij way of behaving been so carefully and clearlj examined. The Colonial Era, the Gay Ninetie the Roaring Twenties—all are first seen by then selves and then are set in their special place ir tlie evolution of American morality.
This is lively and lighthearted reading rip
(continued from front flap)
with telling anecdotes and key selections from contemporary writing, and enhanced by more than 700 illustrations. More important, it is reading that offers a special insight and a fresh perspective on the hectic and perplexing moral climate of today.
Picture Portfolios
In addition to the more than 250 pictures that accompany the narrative, there are six special portfolios of unusual and entertaining illustrations to show our costumes, customs, and poses from Colonial times to the Swinging Sixties.
The Author
Mary Cable is a frequent contributor to American Heritage, Horizon, The New Yorker, and other magazines. She is the author of Dream Castles, and The Avenue of the Presidents.
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