Visit the new website for more about the book, upcoming events, and to keep up with Scott Poole's blog. for a group? Poole has set the bar ridiculously high for any future research exploring the locus of historical and cultural studies, particularly as it pertains to the horrific. challenges, enlightens, and, quite honestly, frightens in its prescient view of American history, as well as the seeming ubiquity of the monsters of our past and probable future. In the follow-up to his first book, Satan in America, Poole has now turned his attention to the monsters that inhabit American cinema and American imaginations. W. Scott Poole. I feel like the author did a great job at deconstructing America's social issues and how they connect to the monsters/fears/entertainment of the time. He is also author of a number of books, including most recently How the Body of Christ Talks: Recovering the Practice of Conversation in the Church (Brazos Press, 2019). (one code per order). But a third interpretive option exists. There was a problem loading your book clubs. But then, I dislike any historical book that loses its sense of historical relativity as well as any book about phenomena that automatically assumes a phenomenon is false and therefore ripe for being disproved and easily rationalized away. It is a frightening world we live in, yet the horrific things in our literature and culture play a vital part in helping us reach some understanding, and even some peace about them. Instead it's more about the social function of the monsterous and why people believe what they believe and how different folkloric monsters became popular at different times in history. Henri Nouwen Books An Introductory Reading Guide. This book is quite well researched, makes a few interesting connections, and is very accessible. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. The evidence that Poole provides . Another witness testifies that King is left-handed. In 2009, Poole published _Satan in America: The Devil We Know__ (Rowman and Littlefield), a cultural history of the image of Satan in American religion, history and popular culture. I highly recommend this for fans of the horror genre and anthropology. A masterful survey of our grim and often disturbing past, Monsters in. If you will, a shining city on hill built on the bodies of natives, blacks, women, and anyone else we dont like very much. 1 (1998): 90-102. It was just way too "all over the place" for me. (The medical examiners evidence suggests that the shooter was probably right-handed.) A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. Monster was adapted into a movie of the same name in 2018. Highly recommended. 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. | 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. All rights reserved. The brother of Zeus and Poseidon, Hades rules the underworld, the realm of the dead, with his wife, Persephone. More than mere metaphors, they are creations of human fears and human ignorance. American history from the past to the present. Best Leonard Cohen Books Biographies and Books by the Songwriter. Fifteen Important Theology Books of 2022!!! SparkNotes PLUS Specifically, he discusses how the stories like "Pocahontas" and "The. Probably more 3.5 stars. Monsters in America is lively and entertaining throughout. Its not a salacious book, either. The kind of monsters depends on the era. Here's where you'll find important quotesfrom Monsterand explanations of them. Monster presents through the obvious things, for example, krakens or werewolves. The man immediately begins screaming about something hidden in the mist that is attacking and killing people. At times in the book a movie director is taken at his word, the reason for his film given authorial intent. Buy now: [ Amazon ] [ Kindle ]. Poole has set the bar ridiculously high for any future research exploring the locus of historical and cultural studies, particularly as it pertains to the horrific. Monsters In America challenges, enlightens, and, quite honestly, frightens in its prescient view of American history, as well as the seeming ubiquity of the monsters of our past and probable future. on 2-49 accounts, Save 30% OBrien follows and reminds the jury that the State has not proved any of its charges against Steve. Monsters in America does a phenomenal job examining American history through the lens of monsters and the monstrous. Mr. Pooles evidence is as intriguing as it is informative. Please try again. James King has his own lawyer, Asa Briggs. She asks the jury to recall how Steve conducted himself on the witness stand and to compare Steve with Sal Zinzi, Bobo Evans, and Osvaldo Cruz before they decide who is believable. I'm just saying that throughout the country's history, there have been some pretty dark times. Discount, Discount Code All rights reserved. See a complete Character List for Monster, as well as in-depth analysis of its most important characters. $18.74/subscription + tax, Save 25% In his new preface and expanded conclusion, Pooles tale connects to the presentillustrating the relationship between current social movements and their historical antecedents. By the end of the book, Poole cautions that Americas monsters arent going away anytime soon. Enter your email address to subscribe to That's What She Read and receive notifications of new posts by email. Hades Roman name: Pluto. Michelle Shannon is licensed under a Fall 2021 Most Anticipated Books for Christian Readers! I would love something like this for the UK. The different types of monsters, whether cultural, supernatural, or moral, all contribute to the meaning of American culture. The atheist taught that inflicting suffering while enjoying the process is human nature. Christopher Columbus came to the Americas searching for gold, slaves, and monsters. Monster is usually used to reflect an individual's actions; especially, it shows for the wrong act of people. Usually just called Athena, this goddess emerges from Zeus's head fully-grown and armed. IE- minorities = what we are anxious about / obsessed with = the monstrous = monsters. The author radically departs from the notion that monsters are a metaphor for our fears through the ages. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Steves parents are glad he is home, but the distance between Steve and his father is growing. You'll also receive an email with the link. Conflicting anxieties about race, class, gender, sexuality, religious beliefs, science, and politics manifest as haunting beings among the populace. Frankenstein (1931) happens when somebody tries to make a more perfect human. Poole's connection of the monster to American history is a kind of Creature Features meets American cultural history. What is it that rumbles in the American unconscious that relates to the figures we see on the screen. The State rests its case. Trick-or-treat! can only mean one thingHalloween. . Hes never less than canny on the pop culture angle: Dracula and Frankenstein are almost everywhere in the book, his insights into the fear of zombies are sharp, the comparison of Patrick Bateman and Dexter Morgan is inspired, and the analysis of fifties icons like Vampira and the Addams family are very good. | The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. Friday afternoon, July 17th & December, 5 months later. Books About Race in America; Coretta Scott . Steve Harmon, a Black sixteen-year-old, sits in his jail cell and writes in his notebook. Omer-Sherman, Ranen. Victor sees the monster's point of view and agrees to create a mate for the monster. 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. Reviewed in the United States on October 14, 2012. In Virginia's sectional differences, what natural boundary marked the dividing line between the traditional thinkers and those desiring reforms to have greater representation? When meeting the natives, he saw their way of life as barbaric and uncivilized. All affiliate income is used to support the blog. [Pooles] book is sufficiently clear and engaging for general readers to enjoy and would make a worthwhile addition to undergraduate course in American history or culture. The Theology of the Early Christians 10 Free Classics! FABULOUS! Poole wants to tell a story and take his readers on a journey, and he definitely does so. 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. What becomes disturbingly apparent is that most of Americas hatred of the Other is based in Christian religious belief. Dracula (1931) is based on the fear of foreigners and disease. View all 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]. Youve successfully purchased a group discount. 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. FREE Shipping on orders over $25.00 shipped by Amazon. 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! But honestly, most folks go to horror films for what they would say is the hell of it. Some people enjoy being scared, period. While Poole is an academic his book is anything but dry. Thanks to Poole's insights we see the ubiquity of the monster lurking in and around us. Salvatore Zinzi, a prisoner at the Rikers Island jail, testifies that another prisoner, Wendell Bolden, told him about the drugstore robbery. 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. However, this book was FABULOUS! From our colonial past to the present, the monster in all its various forms has been a staple of American culture. Why are we scared of this person? is always a question behind each chapter and Poole is careful to never reduce it purely to matters of sociology or psychology while still using those tools of analysis. 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. A must read for fans of horror and monsters! Excellent study of the machinery of monsters and their meaning Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video! Poole presents his findings methodically through well-documented facts and similar studies. Petrocelli also calls an eyewitness, Mrs. Lorelle Henry, to the stand. Conflicting anxieties about race, class, gender, sexuality, religious beliefs, science, and politics manifest as haunting beings among the populace. Poole never assumes a 1-1 metaphor, but he does show how common themes (the reemergence of the vampire at different points in American history, for example) are useful shorthand for working through these anxieties. Even fewer scholars do so as adeptly and as entertainingly as W. Scott Poole. Steve worries about why OBrien turned away from him after winning the case. Finally, in the new section "American Carnage," Poole challenges readers to assess what their own monster tales might be and how our sordid past horrors express themselves in our present cultural anxieties. Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. 62 reviews Salem witches, frontier wilderness beasts, freak show oddities, alien invasions, Freddie Krueger. Jos Delgado, an employee of the drugstore, tells how he found Mr. Nesbitts body and noticed that cash and cigarettes were missing. Solely focused on the horrors, readers would think that no Christian or church stood against the aberration of Scriptural teaching; but such was the case with missionaries and abolitionists. 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. 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. Then it is OBriens turn to present the defense of Steve. $18.74/subscription + tax, Save 25% 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.. By entering your email address you agree to receive emails from SparkNotes and verify that you are over the age of 13. This book is a wonderful introduction to American history through the lens of monsters. 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. Anything outside the norm brought about the birth of a monster, which can differ depending on the social, economic, cultural, or political influences of the time. Bram Stoker Award finalist W. Scott Poole is the author of numerous books and articles on monsters and mayhem in popular culture. Some of his writings can be accessed at www.warpandwoof.org. Steve calls the movie Monster because that is what the prosecutor has called him. After a minute elapses from the time David, Billy and Brent enter the store, a man, Jeff Miller, a local townsperson, flies into the market, bloodied and frantic. The atheist taught that inflicting suffering while enjoying the process is human nature. 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. Marilynne Robinson 10 Freely Available Essays! Study Guides, Friday afternoon, July 17th & December, 5 months later. is lively and entertaining throughout. America, like all nations, is made up of monstrous human beings. Another problem for Steve is that James King, a young Black hood, is Steves co-defendant. 20% W. Scott Poole is Professor of History at the College of Charleston, where he teaches courses on monsters, pop culture, and American history. Monsters in America (2nd ed.) Eastern Orthodoxy Essential Books [A Reading List]. 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Pallas Athena Roman name: Minerva. When, meeting the natives, he saw their way of life as barbaric and uncivilized. Monsters in America argues that historical, political and social conditions produce narratives of horror and create "monsters." Choose one of the following periods 1.) Component 2: Summary. It's no secret that America is a little messed up. For me, there are intertwined. From our colonial past to the present, the monster in all its various forms has been a staple of American culture. March 4, 2023, SNPLUSROCKS20 The old newspaper adage still holds true today. Hardback: Baylor University Press, 2011. He compares himself with the other prisoners. Its cohesive, cursory, and has a smattering of typos. Monsters In America challenges, enlightens, and, quite honestly, frightens in its prescient view of American history, . Conflicting anxieties about race, class, gender, sexuality, religious beliefs, science, and politics manifest as haunting beings among the populace. Foregrounding the racism and injustice of the legal system, the novel is a crime story, a courtroom drama, and an account of a young teens search for identity. Emily Dickinson Poems Seven of our Favorites! (one code per order). Monsters in America. ", Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon. 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. W. Scott Poole, Monsters arrived in 2011and now they are back. He wrote in his journal. He is also the author of _Monsters in America_ from Baylor University Press (2011)._Monsters_ explores the American fascination with vampires, zombies, serial killers and even sea serpents, showing how these creatures of our dark obsessions help us to understand the dark and foreboding places in American history. She coaches Steve on how to answer questions on the witness stand. If it bleeds, it reads. (And as someone who lives with a history PhD and who briefly pursued graduate studies in history myself, I like to believe that I know from whence I speak.) St. Augustine Best Books on His Life and Work, Holy Sonnets John Donne Complete Text. 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. Continue to start your free trial. Through the two and a half weeks I took with this book, I have been citing it in conversation. Newer movies like "Terminator," shows what happens when we place our trust in machines. 335 Pages, 6.00 x 9.00 in. This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. I loved this book. "New light" evangelists of the eighteenth century, enslaved African Americans, demagogic politicians, and modern American film-makers have used the devil to damn their enemies, explain the nature of evil and injustice, mount social crusades, construct a national identity, and express anxiety about matters as . Your group members can use the joining link below to redeem their group membership. Browning's research, including extensive field work in New Orleans, has uncovered a subculture of . Petrocelli presents the charges against the defendants. Author: W. Scott Poole Synopsis (Courtesy of Powell's Books ): "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. American Monsters: A History of Monster Lore, Legends, and Sightings in America - Kindle edition by Godfrey, Linda S.. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. It is a frightening world we live in, yet the horrific things in our literature and culture play a vital part in helping us reach some understanding, and even some peace about them. "The American past reads like something of a horror movie, maybe even a low-budget slasher. Human beings made him declare "war" by treating him like an enemy. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading American Monsters: A History of Monster Lore, Legends, and Sightings in America. Produced by Johns Hopkins University Press in collaboration with The Sheridan Libraries. The author explores American History and how people's fears and reactions to changes in society both affected and were affected by monsters in print and film. InMonsters in America,Scott Poole asks these thought-provoking questions while traveling through American history following the evolution of the monster over time. Poole suggests monsters are created by America to mask its own monstrosities or monsters exist which interpret American culture. But Africans were still human and had their morals, yet the Europeans saw them as a type of monster during the slave trade era. Renew your subscription to regain access to all of our exclusive, ad-free study tools. Anne Bradstreet Poems Five of our Favorites by the Puritan Poet! If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. (Christopher James Blythe, Florida State University, (John W. Morehead, editor, www.TheoFantastique.com). 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. We've quickly looked at a wide variety of Native Cultures across the Americas. I had trouble finding a consistent narrative in a book that talked about sea monsters, Bigfoot, Universal Movie Monsters, Freak-shows, and several other topics, and never spending enough time on any of them to feel like I was more informed after reading. The tendency to view American monsters as primarily psychological archetypes ignores how closely they have reflected actual historical events and actual historical victims.". Salem witches, frontier wilderness beasts, freak show oddities, alien invasions, Freddie Krueger.
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