Status Updates From The Noir Forties: The Ameri...

Book ebbs and flows. Some pages I find fascinating, which leads to reading several chapters in one sitting. Others, however, seem to drag on, which leads me to taking days if not weeks to get through ten pages. I do find the old movie references interesting, but this book is a three stars at best almost two-thirds in.

Not a big fan of his memoir/professional history approach. Just not my cup of tea. Book is an interesting read, but the writing is a bit slow.

First two-thirds of prologue a bit of a slog. Then at the end the author picks up his writing and finds himself.

Did I miss the explanation/introduction of "The Ten"? By context it's some sort of club or group...?

Just referenced a move that was also used as an example in a previous chapter, but didn't mention the earlier reference and described it in a different way as well as providing additional details that probably should have been given with the earlier example. At the very least, there should be a footnote when this happens (imho). To me, it makes a book feel like a collection of articles...

One thing I am liking about this book, is that it doesn't ignore women or only talk about them in relation to men. Lingeman acknowledges the struggles faced by both men and women in first dealing with men going off to war and them with them coming back. And points out many of the double standards women faced.

Every time the OPA is mentioned in this book, I'm like belters!

Then I'm like, no Sara, you are not reading The Expanse, you are reading a non-fiction book about post WW2 America.

I had to actually go look up what this OPA is (Office of Price Administration) because it's so ingrained in my head as Outer Planets Alliance.

By November [1947] the Consumer Price Index had climbed to 150.7.

Wow, I don't remember this from high school. Im pretty sure it was all, "WW2 ended the Great Depression and everything was hunky-dory with the economy after that."

Of course, they were also like, "the men came back from the war and the women gave up their jobs and went back home gladly."

These films—<\i>Laura, Murder My Sweet, Phantom Lady—were dubbed hard-boiled or “red meat films” because of their violence (shown or implied).

Ahhh, Laura is one of my all time favorite movies, usually when I mention this to people they are like, "never heard of it, ever."

Course, I haven't seen the other two mentioned, but I'll be seeking them out now!