Anything Goes: A Biography of the Roaring Twenties

"I can't be bothered resisting things I want," Zelda Fitzgerald, wife of author F. Scott, is quoted by author Lucy Moore as saying. And it is this phrase that encaptulates the brazen, excessive 1920s. Moore has prepared a most interesting review of a period that has been, with the exception of the crash of the stock market, presented through the eyes of Fitzgerald's Jay Gatsby or Steinbeck's Tom Jodd. In "Anything Goes," she points out that although both were accurate, the 1920s were much more. Moore writes, that the era contained "political corruption and complacency; fear of outsiders; life-changing technologies; cults of youth, excess consumerism and celebrity; profit as a new religion on the one hand and the easy availability of credit on the other; astonishing affluence and yet a huge section of society unable to move out of poverty." She astutely details that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Moore's book is interesting because she manages to incorporate fascinating details on her broached subjects: buying and consuming alcohol was not illegal in Prohibition, distributing it was; Duke Ellington's father was a butler in the White House; and Charlie Chaplin paid the largest divorce settlement in 1927 awarded up to that time ($600,000.) Among her other revelations: Cocktails became popular because distributors needed to mask the taste of the sometimes deadly mixtures used to make bathtub gin or moonshine whisky; cocaine "spoons" didn't become popular in the disco era, but in the flapper era; women went from wearing 19 yards of fabric at the turn of the century to just 7 yards in the 20s, and that the term "feminine hygiene" was used to mask the growing demand for female contriceptions. Moore's book wisks across the era effortlessly, touching on the known and the lesser known: Bessie Smith to Jack Dempsey; the Klue Klux Klan to the Teapot Scandal; the Scopes Trial to the Crash of Wall Street. This does not read like a history book, but more like a historical novel. The characters and the events are real, entertaining, and fascinating. Sit back with a Cool Gin Fizz, put on some Louis Armstrong and enjoy.

Anything Goes is historical writer Lucy Moore's biography of America in the "Roaring (Nineteen) Twenties". Given the wide scope of the subject the author has logically devoted each chapter to a different subject or theme. These include Prohibition and Al Capone; jazz; America's youth; Hollywood; President Harding and his scandals; the automotive age and government's pro-business policies; the Red Scare and Sacco/Vazetti; the rise of the Ku Klux Klan; American exiles in Europe; Harold Ross and the New Yorker magazine; John Scopes and the Monkey Trial; Charles Lindbergh and his trans-Atlantic flight; boxer Jack Dempsey and his fights; together with the stock market crash of 1929. Clearly this is a popular rather than academic history of the decade. While the choice of individual subjects, or omission of same, can be debated the book covers a wide range of topics and leaves the reader with an interesting overview. The writing itself is clear and progresses in a logical manner. While there is a reasonable degree of analysis it is largely in the form of conventional wisdom and I don't think there was unique insights by the author. The book will be of most value to readers new to the decade or the individual subjects. Readers who are familiar with the decade or individual subjects will likely find far less of interest.

The 1920s has a reputation as being one of footloose and fancy free after the close of The Great War. Prohibition had gone into effect which only led to the increase in the drinking of alcohol. The first chapter entitled "You Cannot Make Your Shimmy Shake On Tea" alludes to the public's desire for the forbidden liquid, or as Al Capone said, "The federal government put me in business." The music of Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller, and the Jazz Age along with glimpses into the lives of Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Mary Pickford, Gloria Swanson, and sports stars such as Babe Ruth, Jack Dempsey, and Gene Tunney are provided. The Long Count in the championship bout between Dempsey and Tunney may suggest we are looking at a crooked referee. A rather fascinating look is provided into the tortured hedonistic lifestyles of Harry and Caresse Crosby. Harry had long been fascinated by those who had taken their lives. While in New York Harry twice invited his wife Caresse to jump with him from a window on the 27th floor of the Savoy Hotel. Harry's turbulent life came to an end in 1929 when he and a lover died together in a murder-suicide scenario. The infamous case of Sacco and Vanzetti, skirt-chaser President Warren G. Harding, Charles Lindbergh, and the anti-Semitic Henry Ford are dealt with as well. Lindbergh greatest difficulty in flying from New York to Paris in 1927 was in staying awake. Lindbergh denied himself several items in order to make his Spirit of St. Louis lighter in his flight across the Atlantic. Ford paid his employees a generous $5.00 a day to produce his tin lizzies available in any color you wanted as long as it was black. Small government was encouraged throughout the decade, hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan once again raised its ugly head, and the inevitable crash came in October of 1929 leading to the Great Depression. It sounds like history repeating itself once again. The book is only 332 pages long and the title Anything Goes pretty much describes the era of Wonderful Nonsense that took place. but it includes a great deal of information regarding the individuals and incidents that made up this decade in America's history.

Having always been fascinated by the 1920s, I was eager to get my hands on this detailed account of the turbulent decade that in many ways defined modern American culture. Lucy Moore is able to cover a broad collection of historical events, figures, and trends that bloomed during this era, transitioning smoothly through all the most note-worthy and intriguing individuals of history- Al Capone, Louis Armstrong, Henry Ford, F. Scott Fitzgerald, etc. Moore's style of writing is crisp, fast paced, and energetic, unlike many straight history works, this biography moves more with the pace and attitude of a novel, making it a quick and enjoyable read. This is definitely a book worth reading because it is the embodiment of glamour, ingenuity, and potential that defined America in these crucial years between world wars. Prohibition, the Harlem Renaissance, the growth of the automobile industry, jazz, literature, and racial tension, are all things that define the American identity, and Moore approaches them with a natural tone and comprehensive scope.