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As Seen on TV
From the painting-by-numbers fad to the public fascination with the First Lady's apparel to the television sensation of Elvis Presley to the sculptural refinement of the automobile, Marling explores what Americans saw and what they looked for in the 1950s with a gaze newly trained by TV.
Merry Christmas! Celebrating AmericaÕs Greatest Holiday
It wouldn't be Christmas without the "things." How they came to mean so much, and to play such a prominent role in America's central holiday, is the tale told in this delightful and edifying book. In a style characteristically engaging and erudite, Karal Ann Marling, one of our most trenchant observers of American culture, describes the outsize spectacle that Christmas has become.
Designing Disney's Theme Parks
From the day it opened in July 1955, in an event given live TV coverage, Disneyland has been a key symbol of contemporary American culture. It has been both celebrated and attacked as the ultimate embodiment of consumer society, a harbinger of shopping-mall culture, a symbol of American hegemony in entertainment, the epitome of fantasy, simulation, pastiche, and the blurring of distinctions between reality and mass-media imagery. Yet for all the power of Disneyland as metaphor, almost no one has discussed the making of this unique place, with its far-flung colonies in Florida, Japan, and France. Written to accompany an exhibition at the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal, "Designin...
Graceland
Describes what Graceland, the home Elvis Presley built in Memphis, tells about the late singer's life and personality.
Designs on the Heart
"In this book Karal Ann Marling looks at Grandma Moses as a cultural phenomenon of the postwar period and explores the meaning of her subject matter - and her astonishing fame. What did the "Greatest Generation" see in her simple renderings of people, young and old, tapping maple trees for syrup, making apple butter, gliding across snowy fields on sleighs? Why did Bob Hope, Irving Berlin, and Harry Truman all love her - and the art czars' of New York openly despise her? Through the flood of Moses merchandise - splashed across Christmas cards, dishware, yard goods, and gewgaws of every kind - Marling traces the resonances that these "primitive" images struck in an America awkwardly adjusting to a new era of technology, suburbia, and Cold War tensions.".
Wall-to-wall America
From the back cover of the book, quoted in part:"The America Karal Ann Marling (the author) refers to is small-town America during the depression era; in particular those communities that were portrayed in the 1000-odd murals that appeared in post offices around the country under the auspices of the Treasury Department Section of Fine Arts. She goes far beyond an investigation of the murals as art, and 'Wall to Wall America' becomes an intelligent, often irreverent, discussion of popular taste and culture during the depression decade. "
Blue Ribbon
Covers everything from prize animals to fair architecture to speeches to Pronto Pups.
George Washington Slept Here
In her quest for the unhistorical George Washington, Marling has examined the subculture of American life--magazine fiction, historical romances, movies, and journalism. She traces the descent of high art into such popular forms as posters, billboards, and advertising packages. 224 halftones.
Iwo Jima
None
The Colossus of Roads
Where can one find the world's largest prairie chicken, a restaurant shaped like a fish, a massive Paul Bunyan, or an enormous ear of corn? Roadside sculpture is a uniquely American phenomenon and these strange and wonderful figures can be found scattered along highways and standing in small-town squares, particularly in the Midwest. These odd and oversized attractions have become destinations for travelers. Whether it serves art, commerce, or local pride, the colossus is always a place in itself, a stopping place where the everyday rules of reality are suspended and the observer can gain insight into the way these communities imagine themselves. Karal Ann Marling visits dozens of these roadside attractions, viewing them analytically, intellectually, and enthusiastically, tracing each one through folklore and literature. Heavily illustrated, this book takes the reader on the road to examine these treasures and all that they represent.
