“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
