Stephen E. Kercher's Books

Revel with a Cause

Liberal Satire in Postwar America

By: Stephen E. Kercher

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Revel with a Cause

Liberal Satire in Postwar America

By: Stephen E. Kercher

We live in a time much like the postwar era. A time of arch political conservatism and vast social conformity. A time in which our nation’s leaders question and challenge the patriotism of those who oppose their policies. But before there was Jon Stewart, Al Franken, or Bill Maher, there were Mort Sahl, Stan Freberg, and Lenny Bruce—liberal satirists who, through their wry and scabrous comedic routines, waged war against the political ironies, contradictions, and hypocrisies of their times. Revel with a Cause is their story. Stephen Kercher here provides the first comprehensive look at the satiric humor that flourished in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. Focusing on an impressive range of comedy—not just standup comedians of the day but also satirical publications like MAD magazine, improvisational theater groups such asSecond City, the motion picture Dr. Strangelove, and TV shows like That Was the Week That Was—Kercher reminds us that the postwar era saw varieties of comic expression that were more challenging and nonconformist than we commonly remember. His history of these comedic luminaries shows that for a sizeable audience of educated, middle-class Americans who shared such liberal views, the period’s satire was a crucial mode of cultural dissent. For such individuals, satire was a vehicle through which concerns over the suppression of civil liberties, Cold War foreign policies, blind social conformity, and our heated racial crisis could be productively addressed. A vibrant and probing look at some of the most influential comedy of mid-twentieth-century America, Revel with a Cause belongs on the short list of essential books for anyone interested in the relationship between American politics and popular culture.

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Page Count

589

Publisher

University of Chicago Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0226431657

ISBN 13

9780226431659

The Rebel Café

Sex, Race, and Politics in Cold War America’s Nightclub Underground

By: Stephen R. Duncan

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The Rebel Café

Sex, Race, and Politics in Cold War America’s Nightclub Underground

By: Stephen R. Duncan

Subterranean nightspots in 1950s New York and San Francisco were social, cultural, and political hothouses for left-wing bohemians. The art and antics of rebellious figures in 1950s American nightlife—from the Beat Generation to eccentric jazz musicians and comedians—have long fascinated fans and scholars alike. In The Rebel Café, Stephen R. Duncan flips the frame, focusing on the New York and San Francisco bars, nightclubs, and coffeehouses from which these cultural icons emerged. Duncan shows that the sexy, smoky sites of bohemian Greenwich Village and North Beach offered not just entertainment but doorways to a new sociopolitical consciousness. This book is a collective biography of the places that harbored beatniks, blabbermouths, hipsters, playboys, and partisans who altered the shape of postwar liberal politics and culture. Throughout this period, Duncan argues, nightspots were crucial—albeit informal—institutions of the American democratic public sphere. Amid the Red Scare’s repressive politics, the urban underground of New York and San Francisco acted as both a fallout shelter for left-wingers and a laboratory for social experimentation. Touching on literary figures from Norman Mailer and Amiri Baraka to Susan Sontag as well as performers ranging from Dave Brubeck to Maya Angelou to Lenny Bruce, The Rebel Café profiles hot spots such as the Village Vanguard, the hungry i, the Black Cat Cafe, and the White Horse Tavern. Ultimately, the book provides a deeper view of 1950s America, not simply as the black-and-white precursor to the Technicolor flamboyance of the sixties but as a rich period of artistic expression and identity formation that blended cultural production and politics.

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Page Count

335

Publisher

Johns Hopkins University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1421426331

ISBN 13

9781421426334

Revel with a Cause

Liberal Satire in Postwar America

By: Stephen E. Kercher

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Revel with a Cause

Liberal Satire in Postwar America

By: Stephen E. Kercher

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

589

Publisher

University of Chicago Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0226431657

ISBN 13

9780226431659

Book's by Stephen E. Kercher

Revel with a Cause

Revel with a Cause

The Rebel Café

The Rebel Café

Revel with a Cause

Revel with a Cause

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