The Little Girl Who Fought the Great Depression
Shirley Temple and 1930s America
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The Little Girl Who Fought the Great Depression
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Narrated by:
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Kathleen Godwin
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By:
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John F. Kasson
About this listen
How the smile and fortitude of a child actress revived a nation.
Her image appeared in periodicals and advertisements roughly twenty times daily; she rivaled FDR and Edward VIII as the most photographed person in the world. Her portrait brightened the homes of countless admirers: From a Black laborer’s cabin in South Carolina and young Andy Warhol’s house in Pittsburgh to FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover’s recreation room in Washington, DC, and gangster “Bumpy” Johnson’s Harlem apartment. A few years later her smile cheered the secret bedchamber of Anne Frank in Amsterdam as young Anne hid from the Nazis.
For four consecutive years Shirley Temple was the world’s box-office champion, a record never equaled. By early 1935 her mail was reported as four thousand letters a week, and hers was the second-most popular girl’s name in the country.
What distinguished Shirley Temple from every other Hollywood star of the period - and everyone since - was how brilliantly she shone. Amid the deprivation and despair of the Great Depression, Shirley Temple radiated optimism and plucky good cheer that lifted the spirits of millions and shaped their collective character for generations to come. Distinguished cultural historian John F. Kasson shows how the most famous, adored, imitated, and commodified child in the world astonished movie goers, created a new international culture of celebrity, and revolutionized the role of children as consumers.
Tap-dancing across racial boundaries with Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, foiling villains, and mending the hearts and troubles of the deserving, Shirley Temple personified the hopes and dreams of Americans. To do so, she worked virtually every day of her childhood, transforming her own family as well as the lives of her fans.
©2014 John F. Kasson (P)2014 Audible Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about The Little Girl Who Fought the Great Depression
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Danielle
- 11-01-16
Brilliant detail
I have studied Shirley Temple for years and so going into this book (released so soon after her death) I was cautious. But it is very well detailed and captures everything very well across several decades, I was glad to have the chapters at the end mention her private life, finances and later career which are not so detailed in her autobiography. The book is neutral in tone, which I think is important with focus on celebrity culture, it also meant that you were given new stories and research that make Shirley seem much more realistic as a person. You will certainly see far beyond her screen persona.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Karen
- 22-07-16
Facts, Facts, Facts
I love Shirley Temple and I got this book as I wanted to know about HER and HER LIFE. This book was filled with facts that didn't really tell me about the real Shirley Temple. It told me all about this history of the USA at the time but not really what I was expection at all. I was very disappointing.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- KStar
- 30-12-23
Reads like a dissertation
If you want to know about the obscure facts and history of President Hoover and Roosevelt, the Great Depression, and the history of early movies, this is the book for you. If you want to know about Shirley Temple, she is only a minor feature. DNF after about 5 hours of listening to rote facts read by someone who could possibly also be the voice of Amazon’s Alexa. Absolutely terrible.
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