“The restlessness approached hysteria. The parties were bigger. The shows were bigger. The pace was faster,…the buildings higher, the morals looser.” F. Scott Fitzgerald
I am teaming up with Fanda of Fanda Classiclit (and creator of the wonderful poster above) for Jazz Age June, a reading event from June 1-30, that explores the 1920s through literature and other arts.
While 2020 has certainly taken a turn no one could have expected, the 1920s began eerily similar as it recovered from its own pandemic. But as the decade progressed it boasted some of the best in worldwide literature, poetry, dance, theater, women’s fashion and new technologies that revolutionized home and community.
This is an easy event to participate in…just read! Or watch a film, read a play, listen to music or watch a dance performance, then write about it on the social media of your choice. Anything published, produced on stage, opened in a gallery or museum or film released from 1920-1929 qualifies.
With the hashtag #JazzAgeJune we will retweet you or repost from your blog, Instagram or other social media, just tag me. And on June 1st I will put up a blog post where you can link your post or other social media in the comment section.
I am starting out the month with my Classic Club Spin, Edith Wharton’s, The Glimpses of the Moon (1922) and later in the month I’ll post my impressions of The Great Gatsby.
If you need help getting started, some of these lists might help.
Goodreads, books published in the 1920s
Stylist, 50 best books of the 1920s
Penguin, books that defined the 1920s
UC Berkeley, Nonfiction
Plays, written or performed in the 1920s (click top of page for succeeding years)
Pulitzer winners
The Newbery Medal for children’s books
Hope to see you in June!
“Life is a lot like jazz… it’s best when you improvise.” — George Gershwin
“You are all a lost generation,” Gertrude Stein quoted in Ernest Hemingway’s, The Sun Also Rises
“I don’t want no drummer. I set the tempo.” — Bessie Smith
Relevant Obscurity 
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The Jazz Age was indeed an interesting time. As it started with a pandemic I wonder how the next ten years might resemble it.
I will see if I can join you with a post or two but my writing has been slow lately. I look forward to your upcoming posts.
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The parallels are kind of eerie, I think. And at the end of the decade came the Stock Market crash! What a bizarre turn of events the Coronavirus points to.
If you do read something (or view a film) you can also just do some tweets about it.
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I’d already planned ten titles for me to read between June and the end of August for the 20 Books of Summer blogging event run by Cathy of 746books.com, but luckily I’ve left space for events just like this! I shall potter off and have a decko now…
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Hmm, I’ve just had a quick rummage around on my shelves and found three James Branch Cabell fantasies, two unread, one due for a reread, and all published in the 1920s. Distinct possibilities! 🙂
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Oo, fantasies from the 1920s, that sounds promising!
And I know you are a prolific writer, but if you don’t have time for a full blog post, you can always do something short on Twitter or Instagram. No pressure…from someone who wants no pressure 🙂
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No, I will fit at least one into my reading schedule, such as it is, but I’ll definitely use the hashtag elsewhere on social media. 🙂
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I’m not usually much of a joiner, but I like this idea, with the historical parallel. I’m thinking about rereading Shaw’s play Saint Joan.
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I have a copy of that…And we need plays, more plays. Or I do!
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Yay… it’s happening! 🙂
Thanks for making it happen, Laurie, I won’t be able to do it alone. Will read Fitzgerald’s Flappers and Philosophers, and plan to rewatch A Midnight in Paris, The Great Gatsby, and Chicago. It will be fun!
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I am also looking at films. I have a copy of Louise Brooks’ 1929, Diary of a Lost Girl. I saw it in a theater once, then got my own copy. And I’d like to see Nosferatu again. Hmm and maybe I need to watch something I have never seen!
Thanks for teaming up…I am really looking forward to this.
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What a great idea! I love the Jazz Age. Experience has taught me not to guarantee to post anything but I can guarantee I’ll be reading along!
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Haha, I can relate, Sandra. I always have high hopes for myself that fizzle out, but since I am co-hosting this one, I must come through!
I hope people not only read books, but watch films from the young film industry or read a play. And the music…! Some of these won’t take much time.
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Yes, I have several films in mind. Not yet settled on the books. Choosing them will be great fun! 🙂
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