My Pilgrim's Progress - by George W S Trow (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"Original, provocative and possibly prophetic."-- The New York Times

When his classic Within the Context of No Context was first published, George W. S. Trow parsed television's overwhelming dominance over America's consciousness. In My Pilgrim's Progress, he returns with a provocative tour of politics and the media to show "how 1950 got to be 1998."

The son of a tabloid journalist, Trow was raised in the "Deepest Roosevelt Aesthetic," and found himself seduced by the ordinaryness of the Eisenhower era. It was a time when the Old World was giving way to the New. Perusing The New York Times of February 1950, he gives us America at the peak of its power, with its politicians and celebrities (and the nearly hesitant advent of television) and the fresh terror of the H-bomb. At turns a cultural history, a eulogy, and a provocative commentary on contemporary America, My Pilgrim's Progress confirms Trow's place as one of our most brilliant and incisive social critics.

From the Back Cover

In My Pilgrim's Progress, George W. S. Trow, the author of the classic Within the Context of No Context, the searing essay which predicted television's overwhelming influence on American culture, shows us "how 1950 got to be 1998".

The son of a tabloid journalist, raised in the Deepest Roosevelt Aesthetic, and seduced by the ordinariness of the Eisenhower era, Trow peruses The New York Times of February 1950, when television was making its first, almost hesitant foray into the American living room, the terror of the H-bomb was becoming realized, and the nation was at the peak of its power. It was the beginning of a decade in which the author and America watched as the Old World gave way to the New. At turns irreverent cultural history, a eulogy for the end of an era, and a brilliantly provocative commentary on contemporary America, My Pilgrim's Progress confirms Trow's place as one of our most incisive social critics.

Review Quotes

"As good as anything written about our journey out of the '50s." --Los Angeles Times Book Review

About the Author

George W. S. Trow lives in Columbia Country, New York and Texas.