Introduction: The Jazz Age and the Culture of Change
1 Babbitt (Sinclair Lewis, 1922)
Historical Background: Babbitt and the Perils of Progress and Prosperity
About Sinclair Lewis: The Man Who Defined Babbittry
Historical Explorations of Babbitt
The Religion of Business in the Jazz Age
Document: From “Passing Our Tenth Milestone,” Paul P. Harris, 1915
Document: From The Man Nobody Knows, Bruce Barton, 1925
Document: From “Knowledge in Contempt in America, Believe Europeans,” H. L. Mencken, 1925
2 The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1925)
Historical Background: The Great Gatsby and the Culture of Contradiction
About F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Man Who Wrote the Jazz Age
Historical Explorations of The Great Gatsby
The Automobile and the Jazz Age
Document: From “How Many American People Can Afford Automobiles?” 1922
Document: From “Your Car and You,” 1920
Document: From “On Which Side of the Windshield Do You Do Your Cussing?” H. I. Phillips, 1927
Document: From The Volstead Act, 1920
Document: From “Nation-Wide Prohibition Ends Fight of 112 Years,” 1920
Document: From “Volstead Law Draws Attack of Opponents,” 1925
Document: From “Rich Bootleggers Sent to Prison,” 1923
Celebrity Culture in the Jazz Age
Document: From “The Secret of Charlie Chaplin’s Popularity,” St. John Ervine, 1921
Document: From “Chance Writes the Lindbergh Saga,” 1927
Document: From “My Friend Babe Ruth,” 1924
3 Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Anita Loos, 1925)
Synopsis of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Historical Background: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and the Gender Politics of the Jazz Age
About Anita Loos: A Life in Words and (Motion) Pictures
Why We Read Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Historical Explorations of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Documenting Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Document: From The Flapper, 1922
Document: From “Flappers Flaunt Fads in Footwear,” The New York Times, 1922
Document: From “The Flapper—A New Type,” Alfredo Panzini, 1921
Document: From “Her Eternal Youth,” New York Times, 1922
Hollywood and the Motion Picture Revolution
Document: From “Youth, the Spirit of the Movies,” David Wark Griffith, 1921
Document: From “Flappers Here to Stay, Says Colleen Moore,” Gladys Hall, 1922
Document: From “The Monstrous Movies,” Charles Hanson Towne, 1921
Document: From “Through Hollywood with Gun and Camera,” Robert E. Sherwood, 1922
4 The Sun Also Rises (Ernest Hemingway, 1926)
Synopsis of The Sun Also Rises
Historical Background: Hemingway, Paris, and the Modern Moment
About Ernest Hemingway: The Man Who Wrote the Lost Generation
Why We Read The Sun Also Rises
Historical Explorations of The Sun Also Rises
Documenting The Sun Also Rises
Document: From Exile’s Return: A Literary Odyssey of the 1920s, Malcolm Cowley, 1934
Document: From “American Bohemians in Paris,” Ernest Hemingway, 1922
Document: From Being Geniuses Together 1920–1930, Robert McAlmon and Rev. Kay Boyle, 1968
Document: From Paris Was Yesterday. 1925–1939, Janet Flanner, 1972
Document: From Being Geniuses Together 1920–1930, Robert McAlmon and Rev. Kay Boyle, 1968
Document: From “Bull Fighting a Tragedy,” Ernest Hemingway, 1923
Document: From “Pamplona in July,” Ernest Hemingway, 1923
Race, Ethnicity, and the Ku Klux Klan
Document: From “For Christian-Jewish Friendship HP,” The Literary Digest, 1922
Document: From “New York and the Real Jew,” Rollin Lynde Hartt, 1921
Document: From “The Klan Walks in Washington,” The Literary Digest, 1925
Document: From “Klan and Church,” Lowell Mellett, 1923
Document: From “A Judicial Spanking for the Klan,” Literary Digest, 1928
5 Passing (Nella Larsen, 1929)
Historical Background: Passing and the Harlem Renaissance
About Nella Larsen: A Life on the Color Line
Historical Explorations of Passing
Document: From The Big Sea, Langston Hughes, 1940
Document: From Negro Life in New York’s Harlem, Wallace Thurman, 1928
Document: From “The Talented Tenth,” W. E. B. Du Bois, 1903
Document: From “The Task of Negro Womanhood,” Elise Johnson McDougald, 1925
Race and the Eugenics Movement in the Jazz Age
Document: From “Fitter Families for Future Firesides,” 1924
Document: From “Body of Woman Shown to Jury,” The Florence [AL] Times, 1925