Promotional Information

An examination of the disappearance of the American hero, this book describes the various types of traditional American heroes and why each type has vanished. Because heroes are a necessary part of American culture, we have made poor substitutes out of celebrities, local people, and others who are famous for being famous.

Table of Contents

The Problem No More Heroes The Gulf War and Its Aftermath Understanding the American Hero America's Past Heroes Introduction Military Heroes Sports Heroes Political Heroes Entertainment Heroes The Heroes of the American West Intermediate American Heroes Lesser American Heroes Addendum: Why Few Heroic American Women Are Recognized as Heroes Conclusion Why America's Heroes Have Disappeared Introduction Values Bureaucracy, Rationality, and the American Hero The Effects of Homogeneity, Heterogeneity, and Population on the American Hero Addendum: Adolescents Take Over The Media and Heroes In Conclusion: Americans and the American Hero at the End of the Twentieth Century Bibliography Index

About the Author

ALAN EDELSTEIN is Associate Professor of Sociology at Towson State University and the author of An Unacknowledged Harmony: Philo-Semitism and the Survival of European Jewry (Greenwood, 1982).

Reviews

?Although Americans still want heroes (viz., overreaction to victory in the Persian Gulf), Edelstein urges that only trivial celebrity-heroes, local heroes, and temporary heroes can develop now--and that these limited icons are probably healthier than the "false hero, who diminishes us as the true hero would elevate us." Includes interesting addenda on why U.S. women have won only limited recognition as heroes and on the effect of "youth" domination of popular culture.?-Booklist

?Heroes are necessary because they set standards and reinforce societal values, argues Edelstein....He maintains that the cynicism dating from the Vietnam era, the disappearance of the notion of individual responsibility, the growing influence of the social sciences and the decline of romanticism, among other cultural changes, have contributed to the lack of heroes.?-Publishers Weekly

"Heroes are necessary because they set standards and reinforce societal values, argues Edelstein....He maintains that the cynicism dating from the Vietnam era, the disappearance of the notion of individual responsibility, the growing influence of the social sciences and the decline of romanticism, among other cultural changes, have contributed to the lack of heroes."-Publishers Weekly

"Although Americans still want heroes (viz., overreaction to victory in the Persian Gulf), Edelstein urges that only trivial celebrity-heroes, local heroes, and temporary heroes can develop now--and that these limited icons are probably healthier than the "false hero, who diminishes us as the true hero would elevate us." Includes interesting addenda on why U.S. women have won only limited recognition as heroes and on the effect of "youth" domination of popular culture."-Booklist