Unavailable
Unavailable
Unavailable
Ebook800 pages11 hours
The Origins of Cool in Postwar America
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
Cool. It was a new word and a new way to be, and in a single generation, it became the supreme compliment of American culture. The Origins of Cool in Postwar America uncovers the hidden history of this concept and its new set of codes that came to define a global attitude and style. As Joel Dinerstein reveals in this dynamic book, cool began as a stylish defiance of racism, a challenge to suppressed sexuality, a philosophy of individual rebellion, and a youthful search for social change.
Through eye-opening portraits of iconic figures, Dinerstein illuminates the cultural connections and artistic innovations among Lester Young, Humphrey Bogart, Robert Mitchum, Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, Jack Kerouac, Albert Camus, Marlon Brando, and James Dean, among others. We eavesdrop on conversations among Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, and Miles Davis, and on a forgotten debate between Lorraine Hansberry and Norman Mailer over the "white Negro" and black cool. We come to understand how the cool worlds of Beat writers and Method actors emerged from the intersections of film noir, jazz, and existentialism. Out of this mix, Dinerstein sketches nuanced definitions of cool that unite concepts from African-American and Euro-American culture: the stylish stoicism of the ethical rebel loner; the relaxed intensity of the improvising jazz musician; the effortless, physical grace of the Method actor. To be cool is not to be hip and to be hot is definitely not to be cool.
This is the first work to trace the history of cool during the Cold War by exploring the intersections of film noir, jazz, existential literature, Method acting, blues, and rock and roll. Dinerstein reveals that they came together to create something completely new—and that something is cool.
Through eye-opening portraits of iconic figures, Dinerstein illuminates the cultural connections and artistic innovations among Lester Young, Humphrey Bogart, Robert Mitchum, Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, Jack Kerouac, Albert Camus, Marlon Brando, and James Dean, among others. We eavesdrop on conversations among Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, and Miles Davis, and on a forgotten debate between Lorraine Hansberry and Norman Mailer over the "white Negro" and black cool. We come to understand how the cool worlds of Beat writers and Method actors emerged from the intersections of film noir, jazz, and existentialism. Out of this mix, Dinerstein sketches nuanced definitions of cool that unite concepts from African-American and Euro-American culture: the stylish stoicism of the ethical rebel loner; the relaxed intensity of the improvising jazz musician; the effortless, physical grace of the Method actor. To be cool is not to be hip and to be hot is definitely not to be cool.
This is the first work to trace the history of cool during the Cold War by exploring the intersections of film noir, jazz, existential literature, Method acting, blues, and rock and roll. Dinerstein reveals that they came together to create something completely new—and that something is cool.
Unavailable
Read more from Joel Dinerstein
The Origins of Cool in Postwar America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Long Walk Home: Reflections on Bruce Springsteen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to The Origins of Cool in Postwar America
Related ebooks
Memphis Mayhem: A Story of the Music That Shook Up the World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhy Bob Dylan Matters Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Old, Weird America: The World of Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Music vs The Man Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsArt Rebels: Race, Class, and Gender in the Art of Miles Davis and Martin Scorsese Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe History of Rock & Roll, Volume 2: 1964–1977: The Beatles, the Stones, and the Rise of Classic Rock Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Birth of the Cool: Beat, Bebop, and the American Avant Garde Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Paris Blues: African American Music and French Popular Culture, 1920-1960 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBob Dylan: The Essential Interviews Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTriumph over Containment: American Film in the 1950s Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAlways in Trouble: An Oral History of ESP-Disk’, the Most Outrageous Record Label in America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMemphis 68: The Tragedy of Southern Soul Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mr. Mojo: A Biography of Jim Morrison Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Quadrophenia Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCowboys and Indies: The Epic History of the Record Industry Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Age of Great Dreams: America in the 1960s Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/51989: Bob Dylan Didn’t Have This to Sing About Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Fascinating Rhythm: Reading Jazz in American Writing Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Kansas City Lightning: The Rise and Times of Charlie Parker Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jimi Hendrix and Philosophy: Experience Required Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBob Marley and the Wailers: The Ultimate Illustrated History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAnatomy of a Song: The Oral History of 45 Iconic Hits That Changed Rock, R&B and Pop Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Detroit 67: The Year That Changed Soul Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5William Faulkner: The Making of a Modernist Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Neil Young on Neil Young: Interviews and Encounters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5And They All Sang: Adventures of an Eclectic Disc Jockey Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mods: The New Religion Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe History of Rock & Roll, Volume 1: 1920-1963 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Planet of Sound Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWomen Make Noise: Girl Bands from Motown to the Modern Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Literary Criticism For You
The 48 Laws of Power: by Robert Greene | Conversation Starters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of Seduction: by Robert Greene | Conversation Starters Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Behold a Pale Horse: by William Cooper | Conversation Starters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself by Michael A. Singer | Conversation Starters Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Verity: by Colleen Hoover | Conversation Starters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Court of Thorns and Roses: A Novel by Sarah J. Maas | Conversation Starters Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Man's Search for Meaning: by Viktor E. Frankl | Conversation Starters Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/512 Rules For Life: by Jordan Peterson | Conversation Starters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Power of Habit: by Charles Duhigg | Conversation Starters Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Secret History: by Donna Tartt | Conversation Starters Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Book of Virtues Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Letters to a Young Poet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Circe: by Madeline Miller | Conversation Starters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.by Brené Brown | Conversation Starters Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of '70s and '80s Horror Fiction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain | Conversation Starters Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Just Kids: A National Book Award Winner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Alone: by Kristin Hannah | Conversation Starters Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for The Origins of Cool in Postwar America
Rating: 4.166666666666667 out of 5 stars
4/5
3 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Excellent concise read. Covering the origin of conceptual understanding of cool. Highly recommended
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On a very short list of the contemporary cultural criticism I actually admire. I don't agree with all of Dinerstein's ideas, either inside or outside of this work, but I'm an enormous consumer of post-WWII American and French culture, and he treats the subject of post-WWII cool convincingly.