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Inventing the Public Enemy: The Gangster in American Culture, 1918-1934
Contributor(s): Ruth, David E. (Author)

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ISBN: 0226732185     ISBN-13: 9780226732183
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
OUR PRICE: $34.65  

Binding Type: Paperback
Published: April 1996
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Annotation: In this richly detailed account of mass media images, David Ruth looks at Al Capone and other 'invented' gangsters of the 1920s and 1930s. The subject of innumerable newspaper and magazine articles, scores of novels, pulp books and plays, and hundreds of Hollywood movies, the gangster was a compelling figure for Americans preoccupied with crime and the social turmoil it symbolized.
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- True Crime
- History | United States - 20th Century
- Social Science
Dewey: 364.106
LCCN: 95022480
Physical Information: 0.46" H x 6.02" W x 9.05" L (0.65 lbs) 200 pages
Features: Bibliography, Illustrated, Index
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:
In this richly detailed account of mass media images, David Ruth looks at Al Capone and other invented gangsters of the 1920s and 1930s. The subject of innumerable newspaper and magazine articles, scores of novels, and hundreds of Hollywood movies, the gangster was a compelling figure for Americans preoccupied with crime and the social turmoil it symbolized. Ruth shows that the media gangster was less a reflection of reality than a projection created from Americans' values, concerns, and ideas about what would sell.

We see efficient criminal executives demonstrating the multifarious uses of organization; dapper, big-spending gangsters highlighting the promises and perils of the emerging consumer society; and gunmen and molls guiding an uncertain public through the shifting terrain of modern gender roles. In this fascinating study, Ruth reveals how the public enemy provides a far-ranging critique of modern culture.

 
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