It is easy to dismiss advertising as simply the background chatter of modern life, often annoying, sometimes hilarious, and ultimately meaningless. But Kerri P. Steinberg argues that a careful study of the history of advertising can reveal a wealth of insight into a culture. In Jewish Mad Men, Steinberg looks specifically at how advertising helped shape the evolution of American Jewish life and culture over the past one hundred years. Drawing on case studies of famous advertising campaigns—from Levy’s Rye Bread (“You don’t have to be Jewish to love Levy’s”) to Hebrew National hot dogs (“We answer to a higher authority”)—Steinberg examines advertisements from the late nineteenth-century in New York, the center of advertising in the United States, to trace changes in Jewish life there and across the entire country. She looks at ads aimed at the immigrant population, at suburbanites in midcentury, and at hipster and post-denominational Jews today. In addition to discussing campaigns for everything from Manischewitz wine to matzoh, Jewish Mad Men also portrays the legendary Jewish figures in advertising—like Albert Lasker and Bill Bernbach—and lesser known “Mad Men” like Joseph Jacobs, whose pioneering agency created the brilliantly successful Maxwell House Coffee Haggadah. Throughout, Steinberg uses the lens of advertising to illuminate the Jewish trajectory from outsider to insider, and the related arc of immigration, acculturation, upward mobility, and suburbanization. Anchored in the illustrations, photographs, jingles, and taglines of advertising, Jewish Mad Men features a dozen color advertisements and many black-and-white images. Lively and insightful, this book offers a unique look at both advertising and Jewish life in the United States.

It is easy to dismiss advertising as simply the background chatter of modern life, often annoying, sometimes hilarious, and ultimately meaningless. But Kerri P. Steinberg argues that a careful study of the history of advertising can reveal a wealth of insight into a culture. In Jewish Mad Men, Steinberg looks specifically at how advertising helped shape the evolution of American Jewish life and culture over the past one hundred years. Drawing on case studies of famous advertising campaigns—from Levy’s Rye Bread (“You don’t have to be Jewish to love Levy’s”) to Hebrew National hot dogs (“We answer to a higher authority”)—Steinberg examines advertisements from the late nineteenth-century in New York, the center of advertising in the United States, to trace changes in Jewish life there and across the entire country. She looks at ads aimed at the immigrant population, at suburbanites in midcentury, and at hipster and post-denominational Jews today. In addition to discussing campaigns for everything from Manischewitz wine to matzoh, Jewish Mad Men also portrays the legendary Jewish figures in advertising—like Albert Lasker and Bill Bernbach—and lesser known “Mad Men” like Joseph Jacobs, whose pioneering agency created the brilliantly successful Maxwell House Coffee Haggadah. Throughout, Steinberg uses the lens of advertising to illuminate the Jewish trajectory from outsider to insider, and the related arc of immigration, acculturation, upward mobility, and suburbanization. Anchored in the illustrations, photographs, jingles, and taglines of advertising, Jewish Mad Men features a dozen color advertisements and many black-and-white images. Lively and insightful, this book offers a unique look at both advertising and Jewish life in the United States.

Mad Men has captured the imaginations of millions of viewers, winning fifteen golden globes and four Emmys. Perhaps more than the gorgeously stylized visuals and impeccably re-created history, it's the show's richly drawn characters stumbling through their personal and professional lives that get under our skin and keep us invested. In Mad Men on the Couch, Dr. Stephanie Newman analyzes the show's primary characters through the lens of modern psychology. Lending her trained professional eye, she poses and expertly answers pressing questions such as: Why does Don constantly sabotage himself? Why is Betty such a cold mother and desperately unhappy housewife? (Hint: It's not just because her "people are Nordic.") Why does Pete prevail in adversity when Roger crumbles? Why is Peggy able to rise profesionally in the male jungle of Madison Avenue when Joan can't? Can these characters ever really change? With critical commentary that is both entertaining and insightful, Mad Men on the Couch will provide viewers with a unique persepctive on the show.

AMC's Mad Men (2007-2015) was an instant hit, winning fifteen Golden Globes and four Emmys and "redefining television." Already a slew of books have appeared to examine its cultural impact. Now comes The End of an Era: Mad Men and the Ordeal of Civility, bringing to the discussion a unique perspective: race realist and Traditionalist. Drawing in equal measure from Kevin MacDonald and Rene Guenon, and able to marshal a stunning array of pop culture reference points, James J. O'Meara -- himself a child of the '60s and a product of America's long-dead industrial heartland -- examines the hidden agendas and social implications of the Mad Men phenomenon. At its center is a bravura, two-part essay analyzing the disintegration of the Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce agency as symbolic reenactment of the archetypal struggle of the Aryan and the Judaic for control of Western civilization. From the culture-creating powers of the three-button suit, to the dissolution of the Aryan Ego in the hot tubs of Esalen, The End of An Era delivers one stunning insight after another. You'll never watch a rerun of Mad Men the same way you did the first time. "James O'Meara is a cultural alchemist scrying the flickering images of TV series and old films for signs of perennial wisdom lying dormant at the heart of postmodernity. In End of an Era he focuses on the TV show Mad Men and reveals Traditional archetypes at war with Judaic crypsis for the soul of the series."-Christopher Pankhurst, author of Numinous Machines "This short collection of essays is an invigorating romp through contemporary American culture, such as it is. James J. O'Meara's concept of 'Judaic inversion' unlocks the mystery of why so much Hollywood and television fare is what it is: the recurring Jewish desire to exact revenge on a WASP society that (allegedly) excluded Jews. John Murray Cuddihy (The Ordeal of Civility) would surely approve of O'Meara's readings of the hit TV series Mad Men. As O'Meara writes, 'Don Draper is really Dick Whitman (= white man), guilty of desertion and manslaughter, both capital crimes. After all, we all know every successful WASP is a big old phony, right?' Understanding this spirited book will help you understand the mentality of the hostile elite that has been corrupting our culture for generations. And understanding is a critical step in trying to take back our own culture."-Edmund Connelly "James J. O'Meara brings his 'paranoiac-critical method' to bear upon the singular TV drama Mad Men, and the reader emerges with fresh insight on this iconically ironic pop-culture phenomenon."-Andy Nowicki, author of Lost Violent Souls "James J. O'Meara's ingenious and mutually illuminating juxtapositions of popular culture and arcane theory (in this case Mad Men and Traditionalist wisdom) bring to mind a thinker with a very different worldview, namely Slavoj i ek, author of such books as Enjoy Your Symptom!: Jacques Lacan in Hollywood and Out. James J. O'Meara is the Slavoj i ek of the Alternative Right."-Greg Johnson, author of New Right vs. Old Right"

"Explored through a broadly political lens, this book examines the various political themes and historical issues seen and presented on AMC's Mad Men while analyzing the contemporary appeal of a television show situated in the 1960s"--

A hilarious memoir about growing up neurotic as one of the few Jewish girls in the Nebraska heartland describes her concerns about which of her friends she can count on to hide her family from the Nazis and her life-changing journey to New York City, where she finds a new home. Original. 25,000 first printing.

The influence of Jews in American entertainment from the early days of Hollywood to the present has proved an endlessly fascinating and controversial topic, for Jews and non-Jews alike. From Shtetl to Stardom: Jews and Hollywood takes an exciting and innovative approach to this rich and complex material. Exploring the subject from a scholarly perspective as well as up close and personal, the book combines historical and theoretical analysis by leading academics in the field with inside information from prominent entertainment professionals. Essays range from Vincent Brook’s survey of the stubbornly persistent canard of Jewish industry "control" to Lawrence Baron and Joel Rosenberg’s panel presentations on the recent brouhaha over Ben Urwand’s book alleging collaboration between Hollywood and Hitler. Case studies by Howard Rodman and Joshua Louis Moss examine a key Coen brothers film, A Serious Man (Rodman), and Jill Soloway’s groundbreaking television series, Transparent (Moss). Jeffrey Shandler and Shaina Hamermann train their respective lenses on popular satirical comedians of yesteryear (Allan Sherman) and those currently all the rage (Amy Schumer, Lena Dunham, and Sarah Silverman). David Isaacs relates his years of agony and hilarity in the television comedy writers’ room, and interviews include in-depth discussions by Ross Melnick with Laemmle Theatres owner Greg Laemmle (relative of Universal Studios founder Carl Laemmle) and by Michael Renov with Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner. In all, From Shtetl to Stardom offers a uniquely multifaceted, multimediated, and up-to-the-minute account of the remarkable role Jews have played in American movie and TV culture.