{"product_id":"the-origins-of-cool-in-postwar-america","title":"The Origins of Cool in Postwar America","description":"\u003cp\u003eCool. It was a new word and a new way to be  and in a single generation  it became the supreme compliment of American culture. The Origins of Cool in Postwar America uncovers the hidden history of this concept and its new set of codes that came to define a global attitude and style. As Joel Dinerstein reveals in this dynamic book  cool began as a stylish defiance of racism  a challenge to suppressed sexuality  a philosophy of individual rebellion  and a youthful search for social change.  Through eye-opening portraits of iconic figures  Dinerstein illuminates the cultural connections and artistic innovations among Lester Young  Humphrey Bogart  Robert Mitchum  Billie Holiday  Frank Sinatra  Jack Kerouac  Albert Camus  Marlon Brando  and James Dean  among others. We eavesdrop on conversations among Jean-Paul Sartre  Simone de Beauvoir  and Miles Davis  and on a forgotten debate between Lorraine Hansberry and Norman Mailer over the \"white Negro\" and black cool. We come to understand how the cool worlds of Beat writers and Method actors emerged from the intersections of film noir  jazz  and existentialism. Out of this mix  Dinerstein sketches nuanced definitions of cool that unite concepts from African-American and Euro-American culture: the stylish stoicism of the ethical rebel loner; the relaxed intensity of the improvising jazz musician; the effortless  physical grace of the Method actor. To be cool is not to be hip and to be hot is definitely not to be cool.  This is the first work to trace the history of cool during the Cold War by exploring the intersections of film noir  jazz  existential literature  Method acting  blues  and rock and roll. Dinerstein reveals that they came together to create something completely newand that something is cool.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44964111319093,"sku":"ByrdShop_0226152650","price":28.6,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780226152653.jpg?v=1770449394","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-origins-of-cool-in-postwar-america","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}