Babbitts and bohemians

"Babbitts and Bohemians is a fresh and informed account of the 1920s, a decade that seems almost mythical to some. Elizabeth Stevenson finds that the true twenties was a society of contrast. On the one hand, it was an era of sameness and political conformity, but on the other hand, it was also a time of cultural revolt. In places labelled Main Street and Middletown the citizenry followed a conventional pattern. At the same time, while most of America enjoyed the good life of this period, bohemians in Greenwich Village and expatriates in Paris were fervently scornful of it." "The author explores the new sense and the world during this period, especially evident in the writings of Sinclair Lewis, Sherwood Anderson, Robert Frost, H. L. Mencken, Glenway Wescott, William Faulkner, and others. Stevenson writes about numerous facets of the 1920s: the brilliant entertainers, Harlem's brief period of glory, the worsening conditions in the South, the hero worship of Babe Ruth and Charles Lindbergh, and the stockmarket crash in 1929 that brought an abrupt end to the golden years. In the new introduction, the author reflects on her personal experience and discusses how the 1920s affected her family."--BOOK JACKET.