This introduction to American literature and culture from 1900 to 1960 is organized around four major ideas about America: that is it “big”, “new”, “rich”, and “free”.

Illustrates the artistic and social climate in the USA during this period.

Juxtaposes discussion of history, popular culture, literature and other art forms in ways that foster discussion,

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Walt Whitman "is America," according to Ezra Pound. More than a century after his death, Whitman's name regularly appears in political speeches, architectural inscriptions, television programs, and films, and it adorns schools, summer camps, truck stops, corporate centers, and shopping malls. In an analysis of Whitman as a quintessential American icon, Kenneth Price shows how his ubiquity and his extraordinarily malleable identity have contributed...

"Crime fiction expert Susanna Lee tracks the evolution of the hard-boiled character type over time and media in the United States. She shows how crime fiction rose in popularity at times of national conflict. Readers and viewers crave the sort of grit and independence that the hard-boiled detective offers when reality may leave them feeling they lack control over their own lives. This is a study of literature and film and also a work of cultural studies"--...

Reflections from America's prominent writers on the seminal poem "Howl" by Allen Ginsberg, on the eve of its fiftieth anniversary.