Malice Domestic by Anne Perry
Not so long ago, songs by the Andrews Sisters and Lawrence Welk blasted from phonographs, lilted over the radio, and dazzled television viewers across the country. Lending star quality to the ethnic music of Poles, Italians, Slovaks, Jews, and Scandinavians, luminaries like Frankie Yankovic, the Polka King, and Whoopee John Wilfart became household names to millions of Americans. In this vivid and engaging book, Victor Greene uncovers a wonderful corner of American social history as he traces the popularization of old-time ethnic music from the turn of the century to the 1960s. Drawing on newspaper clippings, private collections, ethnic societies, photographs, recordings, and interviews with musicians and promoters, Greene chronicles the emergence of a new mass culture that drew heavily on the vivid color, music, and dance of ethnic communities.In this story of American ethnic music, with its countless entertainers performing never-forgotten tunes in hundreds of small cities around the country, Greene revises our notion of how many Americans experienced cultural life. In the polka belt, extending from Connecticut to Nebraska and from Texas up to Minnesota and the Dakotas, not only were polkas, laendlers, schottisches, and waltzes a musical passion, but they shone a scintillating new light on the American cultural landscape. Greene follows the fortunes of groups like the Gold Chain Bohemians, illuminating the development of an important segment of American popular music that fed the craze for international dance music. And even though old-time music declined in the 1960s, overtaken by rock and roll, a new Grammy for the polka was initiated in 1986. In its ebullience and vitality, the genre endures.
A fine-mannered shocker.--The New York Times Book Review
Pitt's compassion and Charlotte's cleverness make them compatible sleuths, as well as extremely congenial. . . . Perry has the great gift of making it all seem immediate and very much alive.--The Philadelphia Inquirer
[A] complex, gripping, and highly satisfying mystery . . . an adroit blend of thick London atmosphere and a convincing cast . . . a totally surprising yet wonderfully plausible finale.--Publishers Weekly
Perry's work is consistently top-notch and [Silence in Hanover Close] is one of her strongest efforts.--The San Diego Union-Tribune
Anne Perry is my choice for today's best mystery writer of Victoriana.--St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Pitt's compassion and Charlotte's cleverness make them compatible sleuths, as well as extremely congenial. . . . Perry has the great gift of making it all seem immediate and very much alive.--The Philadelphia Inquirer
[A] complex, gripping, and highly satisfying mystery . . . an adroit blend of thick London atmosphere and a convincing cast . . . a totally surprising yet wonderfully plausible finale.--Publishers Weekly
Perry's work is consistently top-notch and [Silence in Hanover Close] is one of her strongest efforts.--The San Diego Union-Tribune
Anne Perry is my choice for today's best mystery writer of Victoriana.--St. Louis Post-Dispatch
From the Trade Paperback edition.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780671896331 |
| ISBN 10 | 0671896334 |
| Title | Malice Domestic |
| Author | Anne Perry |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Simon & Schuster |
| Year published | 1997-03-01 |
| Number of pages | 288 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |