Author Discusses Making Sense of Hard Times

Acclaimed nonfiction author Morris Dickstein will discuss “Making Sense of Hard Times” as part of the long-standing Gene Barnett Literary Society’s lecture series on Wednesday, April 28, at 8 p.m., in Wilson Auditorium, Dickinson Hall, Metropolitan Campus.

The author of eight books, Dickstein is an eminent writer and critic as well as a Distinguished Professor of English and Theater at The Graduate Center, City University of New York. Norman Mailer called him “one of the best and most distinguished critics of American literature.” Some of Dickstein’s works include A Mirror in the Roadway: Literature and the Real World, Gates of Eden: American Culture in the Sixties and his latest book, Dancing in the Dark: A Cultural History of the Great Depression.

Morris Dickstein

Dickstein will talk about the explosion of art and entertainment during the 1930s and how the arts helped Americans cope with difficulties of the Great Depression. The presentation will conclude with a question-and-answer session.

Dancing in the Dark discusses the arts and entertainment in the United States during the Great Depression and highlights the pivotal role of culture and government intervention in hard times. Concentrating on the dynamic energy in the arts, Dickstein writes about how the arts gave an enormous lift to the nation’s sagging morale.

Gene Seymour of Newsday writes, “Dickstein achieves something so remarkable with Dancing in the Dark that it hovers close to the miraculous: He almost makes you wish you’d been living in America during the 1930s ... Dancing in the Dark almost reads like the kind of all-embracing narrative an ambitious 20th-century writer might have offered as a candidate for the Great American Novel.”

The Gene Barnett Literary Society of FDU was founded in 1977 and is one of the oldest campus organizations. For nearly 30 years, the society has been sponsoring its speaker series, which has attracted many leading literary figures, including Amy Tan, Arthur Miller, Joyce Carol Oates and United States Poet Laureate Billy Collins.

Tickets cost $10 per person and are available at the door starting at 7:30 p.m. The event is free to faculty, staff and students with valid FDU IDs. For more information, contact Thomas Stavola, English (Metro), at 201-692-2604 or stavola@fdu.edu.