Books about American pop culture

[Farrar]

I promised a unit on this to my kids, and I have an outline of lots of things to cover - from Vaudeville to Motown to consumerism and beyond. But I’m struggling to pick a couple of books. I don’t mind picking a couple of very specific things or people or what have you. Any thoughts?

[Junie]

I'll have to dig out my notes from my 20th Century class.

The first thing that came to mind, though, was Mr. Holland's Opus.  I think it does a really good job of covering music and everyday life from the 50s through the 80s.

[Farrar]

One of the problems I'm running into is that I can think of lots of things to explore and I am finding lots of books about lots of things... but I don't have a particular topic that is a must. I'd rather read a small number of books (maybe two or three?) that are interesting. And because my kids aren't devourers of dense tomes, things that are well under 400 pages - preferably less than 300. It's a funny sweet spot in history books. A lot of books are more like 500 pages. Like, if Can't Stop, Won't Stop wasn't so long, that would be a good one, especially as I have a kid who is super into hip hop.

 

[Lori D.]

Not specific topics in depth (each volume covers a wide range of topics briefly), and no personal experience, but this series continues to look intriguing to me: The Decades of Twentieth Century America. Each volume is just under 150 pages.

Maybe pick a few chapters out of each volume?

Or pick just a few volumes out of the series? Like, the 1920s, 1950s, and 1960s would definitely have a lot of the pop culture that is still referenced heavily today... Also the 1980s and 1990s would likely mention music movements that have morphed into or underpinned musical movements of today...

Edited October 1, 2020 by Lori D.

[EKS]

Not about pop culture exactly, but when we did something similar, one of the books we read was The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.

Also the book The Language of Composition has an entire section devoted to pop culture.

Edited October 1, 2020 by EKS

[Farrar]

Hmm... I don't think those are on the right track for me.

Here's a few that I have on a list so far, but I don't really know what will be good. And part of the problem is that I'm finding I'm not all that well read in this area. The other thing is that I often spy something that sounds really interesting only to discover that it's 600-700 pages, which is just not realistic for us. 

The Monopolists by Mary Pilon (Monopoly)
Can't Stop, Won't Stop by Jeff Chang (rap)
Blues People by Leroi Jones (jazz and blues)
Disney's Land by Richard Snow (Disneyland, obviously)
The Devil in the White City by Erik Lawson (World's fair, among other things...)
No Applause, Just Throw Money by Trav SD (vaudeville)
Presenting Buffalo Bill by Candace Fleming (this one is YA... which is okay... but I don't want children's books really)
 

[Wheres Toto]

Ready Player One has a lot of 80's references. 

Maybe some time travel novels would have references?

[ieta_cassiopeia]

Two books that I think might work as overviews:

20th Century Pop Culture by Dan Epstein - more of a coffee table text, it covers a lot of pop culture topics briefly. Fair warning: news events that affected the public consciousness are also covered; pre-reading may therefore be appropriate. 256 pages. Considerably cheaper if bought used, by the look of it.

20th Century American Pop Culture: A Year-By-Year Timeline by Eric Lee Nelson - a briefer text that more or less does what it says on the cover, in book form. 108 pages.

If your child is particularly interested in hip-hop, then it would be wise to have an overview of popular forms of music in America in the 20th century too. Unfortunately I have had no success in finding one that would make sense.

It might be an idea to have your child read one or both overviews, and then ask for an area or two to study in more detail, Which would be a research question in itself.

 

Edited October 2, 2020 by ieta_cassiopeia
Forgot to add the author for one of the books

[Lori D.]

17 hours ago, Farrar said:

Hmm... I don't think those are on the right track for me.

Here's a few that I have on a list so far, but I don't really know what will be good. And part of the problem is that I'm finding I'm not all that well read in this area. The other thing is that I often spy something that sounds really interesting only to discover that it's 600-700 pages, which is just not realistic for us. 

The Monopolists by Mary Pilon (Monopoly)
Can't Stop, Won't Stop by Jeff Chang (rap)
Blues People by Leroi Jones (jazz and blues)
Disney's Land by Richard Snow (Disneyland, obviously)
The Devil in the White City by Erik Lawson (World's fair, among other things...)
No Applause, Just Throw Money by Trav SD (vaudeville)
Presenting Buffalo Bill by Candace Fleming (this one is YA... which is okay... but I don't want children's books really)
 

Yea, I was afraid that wasn't really what you were looking for. I think pop culture is just so HUGE that the first thing I'd do in the unit is provide a general definition, and then spend a week going through a decade-by-decade timeline of all the trends and things in pop culture. And then let DSs pick 1 or 2 or 3 longer books on specific pop culture topics of interest to dive into. I liked the book title ideas on your list -- I just think that without context they may end up just being "random books", rather than a deeper dive as part of a cohesive unit...

Good luck! It does sound like a really cool unit study! 😄 Warmest regards, Lori D.

[almondbutterandjelly]

Not entirely sure what you are looking for, but Prufrock Press (prufrock.com) has several books on the different decades in America.  Exploring America in the ... (1950s, for instance).  They have website references and book suggestions (textbooks anyway, can't tell about others).  The table of contents might spark some thoughts.  There is a Look Inside feature so you can see some of the books.

Here is a link to the 60s book:

https://www.prufrock.com/Exploring-America-in-the-1960s-Our-Voices-Will-Be-Heard-Grades-6-8-P1897.aspx

[Caroline]

David Browne

Fire and Rain: The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor, CSNY, and the Lost Story of 1970

[Farrar]

On 10/2/2020 at 8:56 PM, perky said:

Not entirely sure what you are looking for, but Prufrock Press (prufrock.com) has several books on the different decades in America.  Exploring America in the ... (1950s, for instance).  They have website references and book suggestions (textbooks anyway, can't tell about others).  The table of contents might spark some thoughts.  There is a Look Inside feature so you can see some of the books.

Here is a link to the 60s book:

https://www.prufrock.com/Exploring-America-in-the-1960s-Our-Voices-Will-Be-Heard-Grades-6-8-P1897.aspx

One of my kids used the 50's one in middle school. I enjoyed it very much. While the approach is very "gifted middle school" it did occur to me that I might buy one to mine for specific song suggestions. We'll see.

[Farrar]

On 10/2/2020 at 5:20 PM, Lori D. said:

Yea, I was afraid that wasn't really what you were looking for. I think pop culture is just so HUGE that the first thing I'd do in the unit is provide a general definition, and then spend a week going through a decade-by-decade timeline of all the trends and things in pop culture. And then let DSs pick 1 or 2 or 3 longer books on specific pop culture topics of interest to dive into. I liked the book title ideas on your list -- I just think that without context they may end up just being "random books", rather than a deeper dive as part of a cohesive unit...

Good luck! It does sound like a really cool unit study! 😄 Warmest regards, Lori D.

Oh, I am planning on the context. That's fine. Maybe that's the confusion. The context part is taken care of. I am specifically looking for the delve into a few specific topics book suggestions here. 

[Lecka]

Could you pick a few chapters from those longer books?  
 

I think maybe flip through the books on your list and see if any are organized in a way where you could pick the first or last half (plus intro or conclusion) or pick out the most interesting chapters.  
 

I read non-fiction books that way often, and it does let me pick up huge tomes I doubt I will read from cover to cover.

 

Some books are arranged chronologically or by topic in a way where it works great.  For other books it is hard to skip parts and still be able to see points that are being made or follow along.  

Books that started out as magazine or newspaper articles are often very readable this way, ime, because they started out organized more serially.  

Edited October 5, 2020 by Lecka

[Lori D.]

Related to Lecka's suggestion of reading excerpts...  I'll just throw in one personal reaction to one of the titles on your list: The Devil in the White City.

The World's Fair parts of the book were fascinating, but the serial killer parts were so profoundly disturbing to me that I had to quickly stop reading those chapters. Fortunately, the book is set up so that chapters alternate, so it's easy to drop the graphic psycho killer portions and just read about the World's Fair part.

Edited October 5, 2020 by Lori D.

[Kareni]

One of many books that my daughter read when she was studying the 20th century was 

The Verse by the Side of the Road by Frank Rowsome, Jr.

It was a fun read.

""In the fall of 1925, young Allan Odell conceived the idea of using consecutive signs along the roadside. . . . In 1963 the last signs were taken down, ending the most famous outdoor advertising venture ever.”—1977 Minnesota Almanac

The whole story is in this book, plus all the jingles used. The signs are gone now, except for one set on permanent display at The Smithsonian. You can have them all, always, in your own library with this book.

“Rowsome’s volume indexes each of the 600 jingles . . . and as you down the list, preferably reading aloud, it might evoke visions of 1940 Chevies, roadside diners, signs that said EATS. . . . Why were the Burma-Shave jingles so universally loved? Because they were light-hearted and humorous in hard times and war times.”—Bov Swift, Knight News Service"

Regards,

Kareni

[Wheres Toto]

My grandparents used to have a book with all the Burma Shave signs in it.   I used to love reading it.

[Farrar]

22 hours ago, Lori D. said:

Related to Lecka's suggestion of reading excerpts...  I'll just throw in one personal reaction to one of the titles on your list: The Devil in the White City.

The World's Fair parts of the book were fascinating, but the serial killer parts were so profoundly disturbing to me that I had to quickly stop reading those chapters. Fortunately, the book is set up so that chapters alternate, so it's easy to drop the graphic psycho killer portions and just read about the World's Fair part.

My kids have tough stomachs. I mean, yeah, but I know it wouldn't even make a dent in my kids' heads. They like horror movies and so forth. I'm actually leaning toward using it, just because I think they'll enjoy it.

[kbutton]

https://books.google.com/books/about/Songs_of_America.html?id=unKNDwAAQBAJ&source=kp_book_description

Quote

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A celebration of American history through the music that helped to shape a nation, by Pulitzer Prize winner Jon Meacham and music superstar Tim McGraw

“Jon Meacham and Tim McGraw form an irresistible duo—connecting us to music as an unsung force in our nation's history.”—Doris Kearns Goodwin

Through all the years of strife and triumph, America has been shaped not just by our elected leaders and our formal politics but also by our music—by the lyrics, performers, and instrumentals that have helped to carry us through the dark days and to celebrate the bright ones.

From “The Star-Spangled Banner” to “Born in the U.S.A.,” Jon Meacham and Tim McGraw take readers on a moving and insightful journey through eras in American history and the songs and performers that inspired us. Meacham chronicles our history, exploring the stories behind the songs, and Tim McGraw reflects on them as an artist and performer. Their perspectives combine to create a unique view of the role music has played in uniting and shaping a nation.

Beginning with the battle hymns of the revolution, and taking us through songs from the defining events of the Civil War, the fight for women’s suffrage, the two world wars, the Great Depression, the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, and into the twenty-first century, Meacham and McGraw explore the songs that defined generations, and the cultural and political climates that produced them. Readers will discover the power of music in the lives of figures such as Harriet Tubman, Franklin Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Martin Luther King, Jr., and will learn more about some of our most beloved musicians and performers, including Marian Anderson, Elvis Presley, Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, Duke Ellington, Carole King, Bruce Springsteen, and more.

Songs of America explores both famous songs and lesser-known ones, expanding our understanding of the scope of American music and lending deeper meaning to the historical context of such songs as “My Country, ’Tis of Thee,” “God Bless America,” “Over There,” “We Shall Overcome,” and “Blowin’ in the Wind.” As Quincy Jones says, Meacham and McGraw have “convened a concert in Songs of America,” one that reminds us of who we are, where we’ve been, and what we, at our best, can be.