The Seven Lively Arts (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. A Jazz Age Defense of Popular Entertainment, from Silent Film and Vaudeville to Comics, Broadway, and Modernist CriticismBy Gilbert Seldes
Length9h 16m
About this audiobook
The Seven Lively Arts is Gilbert Seldes's spirited 1924 defense of modern popular culture, treating cinema, jazz, vaudeville, musical comedy, comic strips, revue, and radio's emerging milieu as serious aesthetic forms. Written with wit, critical precision, and polemical energy, the book challenges the hierarchy separating "high" art from mass entertainment. Its famous praise of George Herriman's Krazy Kat, Chaplin, and popular performance situates American vernacular culture within the broader modernist search for new forms of expression. Seldes was a critic, editor, and public intellectual deeply involved in the cultural debates of the early twentieth century. Associated with The Dial and conversant with literary modernism, he nevertheless resisted the assumption that artistic vitality belonged only to elite or avant-garde circles. His cosmopolitan education, journalistic experience, and alertness to urban entertainment enabled him to recognize craft, intelligence, and formal innovation where many critics saw only commercial amusement. This book is strongly recommended to readers interested in modernism, media history, American studies, and the origins of cultural criticism. It remains valuable not merely as a period document, but as a bold argument for taking popular pleasure seriously.
This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience.
- A succinct Introduction situates the work's timeless appeal and themes.
- The Synopsis outlines the central plot, highlighting key developments without spoiling critical twists.
- A detailed Historical Context immerses you in the era's events and influences that shaped the writing.
- A thorough Analysis dissects symbols, motifs, and character arcs to unearth underlying meanings.
- Reflection questions prompt you to engage personally with the work's messages, connecting them to modern life.
- Hand‐picked Memorable Quotes shine a spotlight on moments of literary brilliance.
Audiobook details
GenreOther
Length9 hrs 16 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateDec 10, 2023
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Introduction
2ILLUSTRATIONS
3The Keystone the Builders Rejected
4THE KEYSTONE THE BUILDERS REJECTED
5An Imaginary Conversation
Show all chaptersShow less
6AN IMAGINARY CONVERSATION
7“I am Here To-Day”: Charlie Chaplin
8“I AM HERE TO-DAY”: CHARLIE CHAPLIN
9Say It With Music
10SAY IT WITH MUSIC
11Tearing a Passion to Ragtime
12TEARING A PASSION TO RAGTIME
13Toujours Jazz
14TOUJOURS JAZZ
15Mr Dooley, Meet Mr Lardner
16MR DOOLEY, MEET MR LARDNER
17A Tribute to Florenz Ziegfeld
18A TRIBUTE TO FLORENZ ZIEGFELD
19The Darktown Strutters on Broadway
20THE DARKTOWN STRUTTERS ON BROADWAY
21Plan For a Lyric Theatre in America
22PLAN FOR A LYRIC THEATRE IN AMERICA
23The One-Man Show
24THE ONE-MAN SHOW
25The Dæmonic in the American Theatre
26THE DÆMONIC IN THE AMERICAN THEATRE
27These, Too ...
28THESE, TOO ...
29The “Vulgar” Comic Strip
30THE “VULGAR” COMIC STRIP
31The Krazy Kat That Walks by Himself
32THE KRAZY KAT THAT WALKS BY HIMSELF
33The Damned Effrontery of the Two-a-Day
34THE DAMNED EFFRONTERY OF THE TWO-A-DAY
35They Call It Dancing
36THEY CALL IT DANCING
37St Simeon Stylites
38ST SIMEON STYLITES
39Burlesque, Circus, Clowns, and Acrobats
40BURLESQUE, CIRCUS, CLOWNS, AND ACROBATS
41The True and Inimitable Kings of Laughter
42THE TRUE AND INIMITABLE KINGS OF LAUGHTER
43The Great God Bogus
44THE GREAT GOD BOGUS
45An Open Letter to the Movie Magnates
46AN OPEN LETTER TO THE MOVIE MAGNATES
47Before a Picture by Picasso
48BEFORE A PICTURE BY PICASSO
49Appendices
50APPENDIX TO “I AM HERE TO-DAY”
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