In the years between World War II and the emergence of television as a mass medium, American popular culture as we know it was first created - in the pulpy, boldly illustrated pages of comic books. No sooner had this new culture emerged than it was beaten down by church groups, community bluestockings, and a McCarthyish Congress - only to resurface with a crooked smile on its face in Mad magazine.The story of the rise and fall of those comic books has never been fully told - until "The Ten-Cent Plague". David Hajdu's ...
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In the years between World War II and the emergence of television as a mass medium, American popular culture as we know it was first created - in the pulpy, boldly illustrated pages of comic books. No sooner had this new culture emerged than it was beaten down by church groups, community bluestockings, and a McCarthyish Congress - only to resurface with a crooked smile on its face in Mad magazine.The story of the rise and fall of those comic books has never been fully told - until "The Ten-Cent Plague". David Hajdu's remarkable new book vividly opens up the lost world of comic books, its creativity, irreverence, and suspicion of authority.When we picture the 1950s, we hear the sound of early rock and roll. "The Ten-Cent Plague" shows how - years before music - comics brought on a clash between children and their parents, between prewar and postwar standards. Created by outsiders from the tenements, garish, shameless, and often shocking, comics spoke to young people and provided the guardians of mainstream culture with a big target. Parents, teachers, and complicit kids burned comics in public bonfires. Cities passed laws to outlaw comics. Congress took action with televised hearings that nearly destroyed the careers of hundreds of artists and writers."The Ten-Cent Plague" radically revises common notions of popular culture, the generation gap, and the divide between "high" and "low" art. As he did with the lives of Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington (in Lush Life) and Bob Dylan and his circle (in Positively 4th Street), Hajdu brings a place, a time, and a milieu unforgettably back to life.
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Add this copy of The Ten-Cent Plague: the Great Comic-Book Scare and How to cart. $8.49, good condition, Sold by Zoom Books East rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Glendale Heights, IL, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
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Book is in very good condition and may include minimal underlining highlighting. The book can also include From the library of labels. May not contain miscellaneous items toys dvds etc. We offer 100% money back guarantee and 24 7 customer service.
Add this copy of The Ten-Cent Plague: the Great Comic-Book Scare and How to cart. $8.70, good condition, Sold by Aspen Book Company rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Denver, CO, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
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Good. A well-loved companion. Corners and cover might show a little wear and you could find some notes or highlights. The dust jacket might be MIA it might have been a library book and extras aren't guaranteed-but the story's all there!
Add this copy of The Ten-Cent Plague: the Great Comic-Book Scare and How to cart. $8.99, fair condition, Sold by Books For Life rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Laurel, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
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Fair. Book is in acceptable condition. May have shelf wear edge wear and spine wear but a very readable copy. May not come with supplemental materials if applicable. Does not include original dustcover jacket. Possibly Ex Library Copy.
Add this copy of The Ten-Cent Plague: the Great Comic-Book Scare and How to cart. $9.48, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Baltimore rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Halethorpe, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Add this copy of The Ten-Cent Plague: the Great Comic-Book Scare and How to cart. $9.48, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Austell, GA, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Add this copy of The Ten-Cent Plague: the Great Comic-Book Scare and How to cart. $9.48, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Add this copy of The Ten-Cent Plague: the Great Comic-Book Scare and How to cart. $9.48, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Baltimore rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Halethorpe, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Add this copy of The Ten-Cent Plague: the Great Comic-Book Scare and How to cart. $9.48, fair condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Austell, GA, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Add this copy of The Ten-Cent Plague: the Great Comic-Book Scare and How to cart. $9.55, good condition, Sold by newlegacybooks rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Annandale, NJ, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by Farrar Straus Giroux.
Add this copy of The Ten-Cent Plague: the Great Comic-Book Scare and How to cart. $9.91, good condition, Sold by Goodwill of Orange County rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Santa Ana, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by Farrar Straus Giroux.
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Book has internal/external wear and/or highlighting and underlining. It may have creases on the cover and some folded pages. This is a USED book. Codes have been used. All items ship Monday-Friday within 2-3 business days. Thank you for supporting Goodwill of OC.
David Hajdu took a fascinating topic, mistitled it and mistreated it. No question that the facts are there, he somehow figured out a way to make the story of comics in the 1950s boring. He actually focuses his research on the move to ban comic books based upon their content and the supposed effect they had on young people. That IS a heck of a story. Somehow, he has drained the life out of it. And he totally ignores the fact that most of the major players, whether publishers or writers, involved here were Jewish immigrants or their children. It's a roast beef sandwich with no mustard. Read "Men of Tomorrow," by Gerard Jones, instead.
Alissa
Jul 5, 2009
Fascinating and disturbing
Hajdu's book chronicles the heyday of the comic book industry in America and how it came to a sudden end thanks to a witch-hunt style persecution in the 1950s. I was in the dark about this dark chapter in American history, before reading the book and found the story to be intensely interesting and also extremely disturbing.
Hajdu's descriptions of both the comic books and the different players involved in this drama are so vivid that they bring this colorful tale to life. Beginning with the birth of the comic book industry, Hajdu chronicles its growth and then shows how such a successful industry was brought down by a few lunatics.
A short photo insert in the center of the book presents some pictures of key players and some of the comic books mentioned. If I had one complaint about the book it was that for a book about such a visual medium there were not enough pictures. Hajdu's descriptions were great, but the book could have used a second photo insert showing more of the specific comic books mentioned in the book.
