Dancing in the Dark
A review by Jonah Raskin
The specter of communism haunted America in the 1930s, and would not fade away. By the 1940s, Communists and anti-Communists alike would be haunted by their deeds and misdeeds in the decade that began in 1929, when the Stock Market crashed, and ended in 1941, when the country went to war in Europe and Asia, and Orson Welles' Citizen Kane -- the quintessential 1930s motion picture - arrived in movie theaters. Given the ruckus Communists caused, it makes sense that the first thing writer Morris Dickstein tackles in this big, brilliant and beautifully written book about 1930s culture and society is Mike Gold, the pugnacious author of Jews Without Money -- the first "proletarian novel" of the era -- and a longtime member of the U.S. Communist Party. Doesn't dwell on Reds Communists, such as playwright Clifford Odets, appear throughout Dancing in the Dark -- you can't write about the 1930s without them -- but Dickstein wisely doesn't dwell on the Reds who wanted to overthrow...
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Previously Reviewed by San Francisco Chronicle
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The National Book Critics Circle, founded in 1974, is a non-profit organization consisting of more than 850 active book reviewers who are interested in honoring quality writing and communicating with one another about common concerns. To learn about how to join, click here.
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