Synopses & Reviews
Rumor, hearsay, tittle-tattle, scuttlebutt, scandal, dirt—whatever the term, gossip is one of the most common forms of communication in which we engage. And yet, even as it is often absorbing and socially significant, it is also widely denigrated. This engaging volume brings together a captivating array of case studies in the history of American gossip, from colonial witchcraft trials to the era of People magazine and flash-in-the-pan Internet celebrities. Here, contributors from diverse disciplines explore the role of gossip in American society, culture, and politics, tracing its transformations and continuities over time and making a convincing case that we should reassess this too-readily dismissed variety of social exchange.
Review
'A magnificent and wondrously wide-ranging anthology of articles on 350 years of gossip about politics, power, diplomacy, celebrity, marriage, morals, murder, mayhem, love, and, of course, sex in its multiple variations,
When Private Talk Goes Public has something for everyone who cares about, studies, teaches, or reads American history.' - David Nasaw, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. Professor of History, City University of New York, USA
"Brilliantly - and engagingly - these essays explore the role of gossip and gender in defining the history of our society. From the Salem witch trials to contemporary politics, this volume illuminates how our definition of the issues confronting us goes back to a fascinating dynamic of story-telling." - William H. Chafe, Alice Mary Baldwin Professor of American History, Duke University, USA
'This lively and fascinating collection challenges many common assumptions about the meaning and functions of gossip. Spanning American history from witchcraft trials in the Colonial era to internet blogging in the 21st century, these essays show how gossip has blurred the lines between public and private life. Whether causing scandal or providing social cohesion, gossip remains a central feature of American life. A great read full of surprises!' - Elaine Tyler May, author of America and the Pill: A History of Promise, Peril, and Liberation
Synopsis
Gossip is one of the most common, and most condemned, forms of discourse in which we engage - even as it is often absorbing and socially significant, it is also widely denigrated. This volume examines fascinating moments in the history of gossip in America, from witchcraft trials to People magazine, helping us to see the subject with new eyes.
About the Author
Kathleen Feeley is Associate Professor of History at University of Redlands, USA. Her work has appeared in Reviews in American History, History Compass, and the Journal of American History. She is the author of Mary Pickford: Women, Film, and Selling Girlhood (2014).
Jennifer Frost is Associate Professor of History at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. She is the author of Hedda Hopper's Hollywood: Celebrity Gossip and American Conservatism (2011) and 'An Interracial Movement of the Poor': Community Organizing and the New Left in the 1960s (2001).
Table of Contents
Introduction; Kathleen Feeley and Jennifer Frost1. "They make one very handsome Mirkin amongst them": Gossip and Church Politics in Seventeenth-Century Virginia; Christine Eisel2. "The Time When There Was So Much Talk of the Witchcraft in this Country": Gossip and the Essex County Witchcraft Crisis of 1692; Mary Beth Norton3. Governed Gossip: The Personal Letters and Public Purpose of Philip Ludwell in Early-Eighteenth-Century Virginia; Virginia Price4. The Infamous Anne Royall: Jacksonian Gossip, Scribbler, and Scold; Nancy Isenberg5. "Gadding," "Gainsaying," and Negotiating Gossip in the Antebellum Black Press; Erica L. Ball6. Gossip Law: Popular Journalism and Transformations in Law and American Legal Culture; Samantha Barbas7. Diplomacy and Gossip: Information-Gathering in the U.S. Foreign Service, 1900-1940; Molly M. Wood8. "As Told By Helen Ferguson": Hollywood Publicity, Gender, and the Public Sphere; Mary Desjardins9. Gossip in the Women's Pages: Legitimizing the Work of Women Journalists in the 1950s and 1960s; Kimberly Wilmot Voss10. The Smearing of Joe McCarthy: The Lavender Scare, Gossip, and Cold War Politics; Andrea Friedman11. Gossip Goes Mainstream: People Magazine, the National Enquirer, and the Rise of Personality Journalism; Anne Helen Petersen12. Is Charles Trippy Famous?: Vlog Culture and Twenty-First-Century Celebrity Gossip on Internet Killed Television; Tim Seiber