In a nutshell, monsters for Poole are metaphors / stand-ins for whoever is loathed or feared in a certain historical context. 20% The brother of Zeus and Poseidon, Hades rules the underworld, the realm of the dead, with his wife, Persephone. Component 2: Summary. Monster in America is a literature book by W. Scott Poole. Thanks to Poole's insights we see the ubiquity of the monster lurking in and around us. Please wait while we process your payment. At the very end, Poole implies that for what has gone before, it could very well get worse. I had to read this for a class (one I wasn't too stoked about, if I'm being honest) and went into it with a pretty closed mind. If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. Fall 2021 Most Anticipated Books for Christian Readers! They Poole offers an insight on America's fascination with monsters. Poole states that, in actuality, that the Europeans saw the natives. for a group? The Best C.S. Indians, the physically disabled, African-Americans, deep-sea animals or mammals, science is a powerful motivator and caused society to vilify those that do not fit the acceptable mold. Indeed, the reader may struggle as I did with the leaps Poole makes between monster movies and American social ills. He is the author of several books, including a biography of H.P Lovecraft, which became a Bram Stoker award finalist, and Wasteland: The Great War and the Origins of Modern Horror. For the next 7 days, you'll have access to awesome PLUS stuff like AP English test prep, No Fear Shakespeare translations and audio, a note-taking tool, personalized dashboard, & much more! The defense rests after Sawickis testimony. This item: Monsters in America: Our Historical Obsession with the Hideous and the Haunting by W. Scott Poole Paperback $34.99 The Monster Theory Reader by Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock Paperback $45.11 On Monsters: An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears by Stephen T. Asma Paperback $28.95 What other items do customers buy after viewing this item? Twelve Important Theology Books of 2021!!! Study Guides, Friday afternoon, July 17th & December, 5 months later. Amazon has encountered an error. You'll be billed after your free trial ends. The Theology of the Early Christians 10 Free Classics! Poole's connection of the monster to American history is a kind of Creature Features meets American cultural history. I think that what makes the book riveting is that despite the particular social factors and grisly historical events, the book is about the Other in media. Salem witches, frontier wilderness beasts, freak show oddities, alien invasions, Freddie Krueger. More than mere metaphors, they are creations of human fears and human ignorance. Stamped on American culture, the phrase brings to mind images of costumes, plastic masks, and parents holding the hands of little monsters as they collect candy calories. , W. Scott Poole has given us a guidebook for a journey into nightmare territory. One wishes for a consistency in commentary. 62 reviews Salem witches, frontier wilderness beasts, freak show oddities, alien invasions, Freddie Krueger. W. Scott Poole, Monsters arrived in 2011and now they are back. For my own part, I have been studying and writing about Gothic horror for some years. The two defense counsels, OBrien and Briggs, establish that the witnesses are testifying for the State in return for reduced sentences. He tells his story through handwritten notes and a typewritten screenplay. Historian W. Scott Poole distinguishes himself by focusing on the American context, providing a history told through the personified expressions of our anxieties and fears. Starting with the Puritan era and the fear of witches and ending with the modern-day fascination with the monsters within us, i.e. Monsters in America is an important contribution, and it will be enjoyed by literary and cultural historians alike. It was the first-ever Michael L. Printz Award recipient, an ALA Best Book, a Coretta Scott King Honor selection, and a National Book Award finalist. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at custserv@bn.com. Simplistic and not incredibly thoughtful, but useful for my purposes, Reviewed in the United States on November 25, 2012. Everything from Communists, feminists, and foreigners to Candyman, Dracula, and The Exorcist are examined for the social attitudes to evil that they illuminate (and that we may believe, consciously or subconsciously). Wed love to have you back! A must read for fans of horror and monsters! Enter your email address to subscribe to That's What She Read and receive notifications of new posts by email. by W. Scott Poole. Detectives Karyl and Williams describe their arrival at the crime scene. 2023 Project MUSE. Dont have an account? For me, there are intertwined. Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2012. Copyright Thats What She Read 2009-2013. Numerous scholars explore the cultural and political implications of monster and horror films for the times from which they emerge. Few scholars connect such implications across broader expanses of time to reveal how intrinsically monsters and the horrific have been bound up in the history of America. Classic Gratitude Poems Joy Harjo, Mary Oliver, MORE. The Monthly Kindle Ebook Sale March 2023, 5 Essential Ebook Deals for Church Leaders 23 February 2023, 5 Essential Ebook Deals for Church Leaders 16 February 2023, Rumi Poems Eight of Our Favorites by the Sufi Mystic, Walt Whitman Poems 8 of our Favorites from Leaves of Grass, Alexander Pushkin Five Poems by the Russian Poet, Against Christian Nationalism: Essential Books [A Reading Guide]. Spring 2021 Most Anticipated Books for Christian Readers! Would that Poole could have written a chapter on one of the liberal American horror shows: 50 million babies slaughtered through this countrys abortion industry. Your group members can use the joining link below to redeem their group membership. OBrien gathers her papers and moves away, leaving Steve standing with outstretched arms. 1 (1998): 90-102. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. ", In 2014 he published _Vampira: Dark Goddess of Horror_ that looked at the life of 1950s horror host Maila Nurmi (a.k.a. Consulting newspaper accounts, archival materials, personal papers, comic books, films, and oral histories, Poole adroitly illustrates how the creation of the monstrous other not only reflects societys fears but shapes actual historical behavior and becomes a cultural reminder of inhuman acts.. InMonsters in America,Scott Poole asks these thought-provoking questions while traveling through American history following the evolution of the monster over time. Hardback: Baylor University Press, 2011. I have read Mr. Poole's work before, so I knew I was in for a treat and I was right. Dorothy Moore, a cousin of Kings, testifies that King was with her at the time of the robbery. Evenhandedness exists in the books last sentence suggesting that liberal visions of social justice could create something worse (228). Poole stays far away from polemic and sticks to the facts. for a customized plan. I found the book interesting and informative, it's brief but gives you just enough to perhaps to look further on your own. Please use a different way to share. Which one would you like to know more about and why? Monsters arrived in 2011and now they are back. It's rarely happy news being reported. The new edition extends this analysis to shed light on some of the darker developments in recent American political culture. A.Slavery B.States' rights C.Internal improvements D.Westward expansion. Picked up on a whim, I certainly got the expected analysis of horror movies as a way for Americans to understand and react to their culture, but the author also makes the (very strong and well supported) argument that far from being a way to understand the world around us, monsters are also used by those in power to crush those without under their heel while also ignoring and excusing the fact that they're doing so. session with vampires and zombies, Poole plots America's past through its fears in this intriguing sociocultural history. The strongest witness for the State is Richard Bobo Evans, who admits that he took part in the robbery. Poole does justice to judgment; the focus of some horror films. We've quickly looked at a wide variety of Native Cultures across the Americas. Consulting newspaper accounts, archival materials, personal papers, comic books, films, and oral histories, Poole adroitly illustrates how the creation of the monstrous"other"not only reflects society's fears but shapes actual historical behavior and becomes a cultural reminder of inhuman acts.Monsters in America is now online at www.monstersinamerica.com. Monsters In America challenges, enlightens, and, quite honestly, frightens in its prescient view of American history, . W. Scott Poole is Professor of History at the College of Charleston, where he teaches courses on monsters, pop culture, and American history. During the robbery, Aguinaldo Nesbitt, the fifty-five-year-old owner of the store, was killed. Petrocelli presents the charges against the defendants. Brief content visible, double tap to read full content. serial killers, each generation faced its own challenges and highlighted its fear within its own monsters. Regardless of the gruesome event, whether it's the Salem Witch Trials back in the 1600s or 9/11 just 10 years ago, one thing remains constant: Americans are obsessed with them. Conflicting anxieties about race, class, gender, sexuality, religious beliefs, science, and politics manifest as haunting beings among the populace. Salvatore Zinzi, a prisoner at the Rikers Island jail, testifies that another prisoner, Wendell Bolden, told him about the drugstore robbery. Get help and learn more about the design. damn good primer on monsters in America. Unless specifically stated in the review, I have purchased all books reviewed. Want 100 or more? Conflicting anxieties about race, class, gender, sexuality, religious beliefs, science, and politics manifest as haunting beings among the populace. For the record, I'm *not* well versed on the horror genre due to my fear of almost every popular culture monster. American history comes at us dripping with gore, victims lying scattered on the ground, eldritch moonlight revealing creeping horrors you never learned from your eighth grade history textbook. This is an important book that Id recommend very highly. Steve records suicidal thoughts and violent prison incidents. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading American Monsters: A History of Monster Lore, Legends, and Sightings in America. The medical examiner states the time of Mr. Nesbitts death. Call me crazy, but I don't think a historian's role ought to be the reaffirmation of modern feelings of superiority over everyone else who has ever lived. Not only do they continue to live in our midst, but, as historian Scott Poole shows, these monsters are an important part of our pasta hideous obsession America cannot seem to escape.Pooles central argument in Monsters in America is that monster tales intertwine with Americas troubled history of racism, politics, class struggle, and gender inequality. Bloodshed and hatred are universals in human nature and Pooles book is a very unsettling history of its American manifestation. Frontier wilderness beasts, Freddie Krueger, witches of Salem, alien invasions, and freak show oddities are some of the monstrous creatures. But Africans were still human and had their morals, yet the Europeans saw them as a type of monster during the slave trade era. Reading this for research for a paper I am writing for a creative nonfiction class for college, but what an interesting book regardless! He states that he knows James King and Osvaldo Cruz, but only casually. Frankenstein (1931) happens when somebody tries to make a more perfect human. The book made a few strong points, but ultimately it was a mediocre read. Monster presents through the obvious things, for example, krakens or werewolves. W. Scott Poole is Professor of History at the College of Charleston. Whats worse is how these monster images exist even until today. A masterful survey of our grim and often disturbing past, Monsters in America uniquely brings together history and culture studies to expose the dark obsessions that have helped create our national identity.Monsters are not just fears of the individual psyche, historian Scott Poole explains, but are concoctions of the public imagination, reactions to cultural influences, social change, and historical events. You'll also receive an email with the link. Did you know you can highlight text to take a note? From Victorian-era mad scientists to modern-day serial killers, new monsters appear as American society evolves, paralleling fluctuating challenges to the cultural status quo. They are created to explain racism, cover up worse monstrosities and signal changes and the state of the nation at the time. Poole's book is fantastic, a terrific look at what makes monsters in film resonate in American culture. While I appreciate and agree with his argument that monsters are "real" because their effects on history / on people's lives have been real, I dislike his assumption that people in the past were the obvious victims of prejudice and misplaced fear and that they were not insightful or intelligent enough to realize what they were truly afraid of. Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership. The Monster feels completely alienated: "none among the myriads of men" will take pity on him. In his new preface and expanded conclusion, Pooles tale connects to the presentillustrating the relationship between current social movements and their historical antecedents. Friedrich Nietzsche believed we are the monsters. Dracula (1931) is based on the fear of foreigners and disease. He compares himself with the other prisoners. This proven textbook also studies the social location of contemporary horror films, exploring, for example, how Get Out emerged from the context of the Black Lives Matter movement. A well informed, thoughtful, and indeed frightening angle of vision to a persistent and compelling American desire to be entertained by the grotesque and the horrific. Fall 2022 Most Anticipated Books for Christian Readers! You can view our. I wasn't ready for the overtly sociological approach of the book, and was expecting a history, as alluded to in the title of the book. American history from the past to the present. Produced by Johns Hopkins University Press in collaboration with The Sheridan Libraries. Not only that, but Sandra Petrocelli, the State prosecutor, is a very good lawyer. Salem witches, frontier wilderness beasts, freak show oddities, alien invasions, Freddie Krueger. on 50-99 accounts. Monsters, he says, are "cultural constructions of the terrible that define what it is we subconsciously fear and what it is we're told to hate or love.". Petrocelli, OBrien, and Briggs make opening statements on the first day of Steves trial. to start your free trial of SparkNotes Plus. Steve Harmon, a Black sixteen-year-old, sits in his jail cell and writes in his notebook. Fyodor Dostoevsky Download all his Novels as Free Ebooks !!! Separated by significant eras in American history, a reader gets a clear picture of how the definition of a monster changes depending on the cultural and political events of an era. The different types of monsters, whether cultural, supernatural, or moral, all contribute to the meaning of American culture. Harmon explains that in his cell. In the follow-up to his first book. From 19th century sea serpents to our current Publishers Weekly session with vampires and zombies, Poole plots America's past through its fears in this intriguing sociocultural history. 1945-1960 2.) Poole invites us into an important and enlightening, if disturbing, conversation about the very real monsters that inhabit the dark spaces of America's past. Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan! Consulting newspaper accounts, archival materials, personal papers, comic books, films, and oral histories, Poole adroitly illustrates how the creation of the monstrous "other" not only reflects society's fears but shapes actual historical behavior and becomes a cultural reminder of inhuman acts. It blends popular culture and American history to present a unique perspective oh why and how we create and perpetuate the monsters we fear most. SparkNotes PLUS I thought this was gonna be about different monsters from American folklore.
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