Повний текст доступний у читальному залі "Фонду Президентів України"

This alphabetically arranged, 2,700-entry encyclopedia treats aspects of U.S. popular culture, defined as "all the experiences in life shared by people in common, generally though not necessarily disseminated by the mass media." In the process of winnowing the 4,000 or so potential topics that were suggested by an advisory group to a manageable number of entries, the editors sought balance, though not necessarily equal coverage. Content breaks down into articles that address social life (23 percent of the articles), music (16 percent), print culture (16 percent), film (15 percent), television and radio (14 percent), sports (10 percent), and art and performance (6 percent). A few entries, such as Currier and Ives and Dime novels, relate to the culture of the nineteenth century, but treatment is purposely slanted toward the twentieth century, and the latter half of the twentieth at that. Articles range from 75-to 150-word introductions to 3,000-word analyses. Each of the 450 contributors, mostly college or university professors and freelance writers, was asked to describe his or her topic and analyze its relevance to American popular culture, a charge successfully carried out in uniformly zesty and interesting prose, accompanied by numerous clear black-and-white illustrations. There are entries covering broad topics (Advertising, Jazz, Radio) and specific activities, comic strips, companies and consumer products, films, foods, individuals, musical groups, publications, social issues, sports teams, television and radio programs, and various other trends and phenomena, such as Advice columns, AARP, Aerobics, Air travel, and Astrology. Reflecting pop culture's inherent inclusiveness, there seems to be almost nothing missing, and an examination of the impact of Sigmund Freud keeps company with entries on Frederick's of Hollywood, Frosty the Snowman, and frozen food. This is one of those rare encyclopedias that is good not only for research but for casual browsing, and readers will find much that is fascinating. Each entry, laid out in an easy-to-read typeface in double-column format, concludes with a list of further readings that includes references to both standard print and online sources. The introduction, list of contributors, and alphabetical list of entries are repeated in each volume. The indexing in volume five is superlative and broad, consisting of three different indexes--one general, one organized by subject, and one organized by decade, creating linkages and widening access to the information available on any given topic. Cross-referencing is limited to see references that refer readers to appropriate headings. The indexing helps make up for the lack of see also references, although these would more easily guide readers between entries for Orson Welles and War of the Worlds, to take one example. Other reference works, such as the Museum of Broadcast Communications Encyclopedia of Television [RBB Ag 97] and The Sixties in America [RBB S 1 99], cover specific aspects of popular culture or specific periods in greater detail, but none can match this set's broad sweep. A superb source for high-school, public, and academic libraries.

Кл.слова:
поп-музика -- знаменитість -- серіал

  Повний текст доступний у читальному залі "Фонду Президентів України"

I have been teaching in the areas of politics and literature for a number of years and have been fascinated especially by the work of George Orwell. In the early 1990s I began work on a book on Orwell and thought at the time that my interest in him would be satisfied. However, George Orwell: A Political Life, published by Manchester University Press in 1993, left me feeling that I wanted to say more than the essentially hybrid format of that book had allowed me to say about his political ideas. In 2003, Orwell’s centenary year, I was invited to give a number of papers on aspects of Orwell’s thought and was disingenuous enough to imagine that these could easily be brought together to make a book. Routledge were good enough to express an interest in the project, and so I immediately began to work on my individual papers. But of course I discovered that a great deal more work had to be done on each, and gaps between them, too, had to be filled. I am very grateful to those at Routledge who expressed an interestin the original project and to those, especially Harriet Brinton, who bore with me when it became clear that the task would be more difficult than originally envisaged. I would also like to express my gratitude to two friends, Claire Lightowler and Stanley Kleinberg, who read most of the original draft – in fact, in Stanley’s case, all the original draft. Their comments were very helpful and caused me frequently to rethink my approach. I am not a good proofreader; in fact, if I were any younger I would have been classified as dyslexic. In those days, however, that option was not available – only indolence. It has been my great good fortune to have a friend who is a meticulous proofreader and I am most grateful for the help that John Stewart offered and gave. Finally, my wife has been enormously and unstintingly supportive of my work. This project would not have been possible to complete without her help. All of these people are partly responsible for the successful completion of what follows, but only I am responsible for its deficiencies.

Кл.слова:
антиутопія -- антикомунізм -- публіцистика