Synopses & Reviews
Includes bibliographical references (p. 195-222) and index.
Review
"Martha Stewart is only the latest in a long line of American 'lifestyle' entrepreneurs. In this book, published in conjunction with a 2003 exhibition at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Thomas Denenberg pieces together a coherent account of Wallace Nutting's life, times, and entrepreneurial career. Nutting (1861—1941), 'a master of self-invention,' wrote his autobiography ('a case study in chronological impossibilities and willful exaggerations') and then 'destroyed most of his business records.' But his books, catalogues, photographs, and furniture reached a huge market in the first half of the 20th century, and dominated middle-class colonial revivalist sentiments of the time. Lavishly illustrated, Denenberg's book follows Nutting's career and the development of his product lines, commenting usefully along the way on such varied topics as business organization, labor relations, and, of course, ideology and aesthetics." Reviewed by Andrew Witmer, Virginia Quarterly Review (Copyright 2006 Virginia Quarterly Review)