{"product_id":"the-strange-career-of-porgy-and-bess-race-culture-and-americas-most-famous-opera","title":"The Strange Career of Porgy and Bess: Race  Culture  and Americas Most Famous Opera","description":"\u003cp\u003eCreated by George Gershwin and DuBose Heyward and sung by generations of black performers  Porgy and Bess has been both embraced and reviled since its debut in 1935. In this comprehensive account  Ellen Noonan examines the operas long history of invention and reinvention as a barometer of twentieth-century American expectations about race  culture  and the struggle for equality. In its surprising endurance lies a myriad of local  national  and international stories. For black performers and commentators  Porgy and Bess was a nexus for debates about cultural representation and racial uplift. White producers  critics  and even audiences spun revealing racial narratives around the show  initially in an attempt to demonstrate its authenticity and later to keep it from becoming discredited or irrelevant. Expertly weaving together the wide-ranging debates over the original novel  Porgy  and its adaptations on stage and film with a history of its intimate ties to Charleston  The Strange Career of Porgy and Bess uncovers the complexities behind one of our nations most long-lived cultural touchstones.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44986938425397,"sku":"ByrdShop_0807837164","price":59.64,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780807837160.jpg?v=1770921263","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-strange-career-of-porgy-and-bess-race-culture-and-americas-most-famous-opera","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}