Mechanic Accents
Book description
Mechanic Accents is a widely acclaimed study of American popular fiction and working-class culture. Combining Marxist literary theory with American labor history, Michael Denning explores what happened when, in the nineteenth century, working people began to read cheap novels and the ""fiction question"" became a class question. In a new…
- Coming soon!
Why read it?
1 author picked Mechanic Accents as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
Denning is a master. He mixes literary analysis, historical sleuthing, and some smart ideological excavation to see how dime novels—treated like trash by most scholars—were used by working men and women in 19th century America. They were creating a culture and their reading did all the things that culture does: helped them make sense of the world, gave them a place to pay with ideas, and invent myths and narratives for orientation. All while middle-class scolds told them they were reading “wrong.”
If you’ve ever loved a book that wasn’t good for you, or wanted to seriously think about something…
From Daniel's list on reading about reading.
Want books like Mechanic Accents?
Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 21 books like Mechanic Accents.
Share your top 3 reads of 2024!
And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.
1,224
readers submitted
so far, will you?
