Middletown: A Study in Modern American Culture

Middletown is a very interesting and important work of anthropology, sociology and history. Not just because it's the first time anthropological techniques were applied to a study of a single American city, but also Lynd's findings provide an interesting look at how by the time of his writings in the 1920s, things between then and now haven't changed in certain respects. Lynd reports disputes between parents and children over the use of the family autombile, the children out too late at parties and those parties not breaking up until the wee hours of the morning. All of this is certainly still prevalent today in many American families. Lynd also discusses how many people in "Middletown" did not vote in the 1922 elections and were cynical about politicians in general. This feeling again, is quite prevalent in American politics today. Lynd's book serves to support the cliche, "The more things change, the more they stay the same." For anybody who thinks that the problems of American society are new and caused by a decline in morality due to technology and other recent influences, get this book. Lynd will show you that this "decline" is not new nor caused by recent outside influences such as TV, the Internet. movies or music.

When this book was written, it was absolutely revolutionary: it was the first time someone had used anthropological tecniques on a modern American town! The authors studied newspapers, visible trends, and interviews with many of the inhabitants of Muncie, Indiana (which they picked and renamed "Middletown" because it was supposed to be an average American town). What they created was a vibrant picture of modern America.Now, seventy years later, the book is an incredibly important historical work about the 1920's. Yet it's also a great read: my favorite part was the chapter where all the teenagers complain about how their parents never let them do anything, and the parents complain about how their teenagers have too much freedom and are probably getting into bad things.I definately reccomend this book to anyone who is interested about the 1920's. Even if you don't like the book, you'll understand why Muncie, Indiana is used in so many pop culture references to average mid-western towns!