Mad Men Unbuttoned: A Romp Through 1960s America - Tapa blanda

Vargas-Cooper, Natasha

 
9780061991004: Mad Men Unbuttoned: A Romp Through 1960s America

Sinopsis

Even if you've never watched TV show "Mad Men", chances are you've heard a colleague chatting about it at the water cooler. AMC's sleeper hit set in the 1960s world of Madison Avenue advertising executives has taken the world by storm - and for good reason. "The New York Times" called the show groundbreaking for luxuriating in the not-so-distant past. Why are people so obsessed with this show? Beyond the sumptuous set design and trance-inducing actors that have defined the critically acclaimed series, there is high art at play. Embedded in the show's three seasons there are hundreds of cultural nuggets that capture the historical themes of the mid-century - like the diminution of social order to the giant consumerist boom. From lowbrow ephemera like iconic beer, bra, and shaving creams ads, to the avante guard expressions of Mark Rothko, to political assassinations to Drexel end tables, all of these precious morsels capture the zeitgeist of the 1960's. Journalist and obsessive "Mad Men" fan Natasha Vargas-Cooper has collected and analyzed these nuggets in one place, so readers can run their fingers over the ads, the sex, the politics, the social mores, of the mid-century. The book will take the richest references in the show and regard each as a cultural artifact - like the famous 1962 "Lucky Strike Ad", a reference to ad-dynamo Julian Keonig, or an Edo era painting that adorns a wall in Sterling Cooper headquarters. Each entry will highlight the cultural context and social history around each artifact. Each page will contain a color photograph with a 200 to 300 word description (with a steady focus on themes that exist on the show). The book would serve as a reader's companion to the show, a discursive look at American history during the mid century, and tasty eye candy.

"Sinopsis" puede pertenecer a otra edición de este libro.

Acerca del autor

After graduating from UCLA with a BA in history and working as a union organizer in L.A. and Washington, D.C., for a number of years, Natasha Vargas-Cooper began her writing career as a film critic for E! Entertainment. Her reporting, essays, and interviews have appeared in print and Web publications ranging from the Daily Beast, New York magazine, BlackBook, Gawker, and Interview. She is currently the Los Angeles correspondent for The Awl.

De la contraportada

Mad Men Unbuttoned, footnotes to the show and the era, including these fascinating tidbits:

  • Don Draper's character is based on the real-life Draper Daniels, protégé of Leo Burnett who started off as a copywriter and rose to creative director, eventually heading the team that launched the Marlboro Man.
  • The iconic "Think Small" Volkswagen ad positioned the Beetle as an ugly but well-made car—a revolt against excess. Not only did unit sales top 500,000 cars a year, but the campaign succeeded in junking all the rules of car advertising.
  • When barred from visiting Disneyland on a trip to the United States, Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev threw a tantrum and left Los Angeles in a huff the very next day.
  • The Group by Mary McCarthy, the novel Betty Draper is seen reading in the bathtub, transformed the way women viewed love, sex, and marriage.
  • In 1947 Christian Dior showcased its revolutionary New Look line. Betty, Peggy, and the rest of the steno pool at Sterling-Cooper can be seen sporting the sloping shoulders, hourglass silhouettes, and billowing skirts of the New Look style.

"Sobre este título" puede pertenecer a otra edición de este libro.