Set in late 19th century Germany; it concerns teenagers who are discovering the inner and outer tumult of sexuality. The plays performance was threatened with closure when the citys Commissioner of Licenses claimed that the play was pornographic; due to its portrayal of abortion; homosexuality; rape; child abuse; and suicide; but a New York trial court issued an injunction to allow the production to proceed.
#2222040 in eBooks 2005-05-03 2005-05-03File Name: B00B7VSJ2W
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Well written makes some detours into archivesBy Joe OmalleyThe book is well written and interesting but focuses a lot on the authors archival investigations that dont really fit into an overview of the topic in general. The three detours are:1) Beat author John Clellon Holmes home recordings2) Mailers drafts of the essay on "White Negro"3) Papers related to John Benson Brooks "Avant Slant"John Benson Brooks "Avant Slant" is horrible. Listen for yourself:[...]the author does explain just why it is so horrible. A series of bad decisions including:1) using hammy actors to re-record dialogue snippets recorded off of TV and radio that would otherwise make the record an early use of sampling2) not understanding the rock genre and thinking the lesson of the Beatles was that vaudeville music was in again3) wanting to preserve a core 12 tone composition by not overlapping any of the sound elements making the album disjointed and sonically boringBut what does this disclose about music in hip culture. Hipsters didnt like the album. It was not popular. The author cant even make a case for the album as a hidden gem. And what is the point quoting bill hicks in a chapter about an album 10x worse than the new kids on the block. At least; hipsters like good music (if not all good music)1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. excellent cultural historyBy Ms. WI am an academic; though not in music history; and I work on the period covered in this book. This is an excellent source for cultural history of hipness and cultures around jazz in the 1950s. I really enjoyed the chapter on Mailer in particular. Ford writes beautifully and clearly. I look forward to reading his next book project.