Raised on Radio - Softcover

Nachman, Gerald

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0520223039 ISBN 13: 9780520223035

Publisher: University of California Press, 2000

Synopsis

In the late 1920s radio exploded almost overnight into being America's dominant entertainment, just as television would do twenty-five years later. Gerald Nachman, himself a product of the radio years, takes us back to the heyday of radio, bringing to life the great performers and shows, as well as the not-so-great and not-great-at-all. Nachman analyzes the many genres that radio exploited or invented, from the soap opera to the sitcom to the quiz show, zooming in to study closely key performers like Jack Benny, Bob Hope, and Fred Allen. Raised on Radio is a generous, instructive, and sinfully readable salute to an extraordinary American phenomenon.

About this title

About the Author

Gerald Nachman has for thirty-eight years covered theater, movies, cabaret, and television for newspapers and magazines across the country. The author of three previous books, he lives in San Francisco.

From the Back Cover

In the late 1920s radio exploded almost overnight into being America's dominant entertainment, just as television would do twenty-five years later. Gerald Nachman, himself a product of the radio years, takes us back to the heyday of radio, bringing to life the great performers and shows, as well as the not-so-great and not-great-at-all. Nachman analyzes the many genres that radio deployed or invented, from the soap opera to the sitcom to the quiz show, zooming in to study closely key performers like Jack Benny, Bob Hope, and Fred Allen. Raised on Radio is a generous, instructive, and sinfully readable salute to an extraordinary American phenomenon.

Reviews

"During its palmy days . . . [radio] was one of the glories of American entertainment. Nachman's goal is to refurbish that glory, and he achieves it with evocations of shows, their stars, and even their sponsors, and I doubt I've ever read a book with a higher count of sparkling anecdotes per chapter."

Edition details

• Publisher: University of California Press
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0520223039
• ISBN 13: 9780520223035
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 544