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The Little Girl Who Fought The Great Depression: Shirley Temple And 1930s America (2014)

by John F. Kasson(Favorite Author)

3.18 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0393240797 (ISBN13: 9780393240795)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

W. W. Norton & Company

review 1: A fascinating and astute analysis of the political and cultural climate in the 1930s. What I really love about this book is that it goes into the in-depth analysis of the life and films of not only Shirley Temple, but her family, her fans, and even FDR, using her life and experiences as a kind of ballast to give better weight and relevance to the challenging political, economic, and yes, technological changes in the early 20th century, in America. It does this without compromising analysis of the emerging of popular culture, and the lasting effects that the new world of "movie stars" and media would have on girlhood, on womanhood, on our cultural perception of childhood, and on consumer culture. And without compromising the details of the life of Shirley Temple; her family... more, her career, the myths that built up around her real-life vs. her persona, and her life after the movies that made her one of the world's first superstars.If you have any interest at all in the history of pop culture, or early cinema, this is a book you really want to read.
review 2: This book really reminded me of some of the texts I read in my sociology classes in college (except much less wordy and fact-y). Honestly, as much as I've enjoyed 1930s and 1940s movies in my life, I really didn't know all that much about Shirley Temple outside of "Animal Crackers in my Soup." So I found this a great alternative to a biography of Shirley -- it gave me a look into the timeline of her career and how the shape of America in that day and time helped sky-rocket her career into an unbelievable ride of child stardom.This was a quick and easy read, and I enjoyed all the anecdotes about children growing up surrounded by Shirley merchandise. It was also a nice glimpse into child stardom in the 1930s and the Hollywood machine. The tidbit I kept coming back to and remembering is that to help portray her child-like image for longer, a year was shaved off her age when she started having success. She didn't even know her own real age until her 13th birthday when she was finally let on to her own little secret. Crazy!I enjoyed this book. You've got to love a well-written non-fiction text! less

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