Eric Burns has written 10 books, including the upcoming 1920: The Year that Made the Decade Roar
(May, Pegasus Books LLC). He has an interesting career, having been a
correspondent for NBC News and TODAY Show. He also hosted Fox News Watch for a
decade. He earned an Emmy for his work.
In 1920 he explores how
so much happened in one pivotal year, a time that would set the tone for the
rest of the century in America. Kirkus
Revews says is is “a fascinating work about a remarkable year,” and Publishers Weekly affirms it is “an entertaining
and informative look at a pivotal period.”
Jazz. Flappers. Women’s right to vote. Robber Barons. Prohibition. Indeed, 1920
was a very interesting time. I found the book to be very thorough and insightful, as it peers into a moment in our nation's history that was both significant and symbolic. It would serve us well in 2015 to reflect back to 1920 through the careful reporting of Mr. Burns.
Here is an interview with the author:
1.
Eric, what inspired you to write
about the 1920s - -actually, just one year from the Roaring Twenties -- 1920?
I am an incessant and eclectic reader, but the twenties, like the fifties,
about which I have already written, have always had a particular fascination
for me. However, so many people had already written about the
decade. What could I possibly add? Eventually it came to me.
By writing about only the first year of the twenties, I could add a narrowed
focus which would allow the reader to see the following years with greater
breadth. For the twenties were not the decade we think they were, and by
concentrating on their first year, I could emphasize the interpretative errors
in so many other books about the years that followed.
2. What
about 1920 do we need to have a greater understanding for that we don’t already
have? We need to understand that, for most Americans, 1920, under the
continuing rule of the robber barons, was a time of unrelieved misery.
Scott and Zelda might have pranced through the fountain at the Plaza; most
Americans were sleeping six to a bed and preparing to awaken before dawn for
their Saturday shifts. It is also important to understand that 1920 was
the year in which the arts finally rebelled, and the people who slept in their
crowded conditions gradually became the subjects of the novel, the poem and the
play. Reality was so harsh for most that the artist could ignore it no
longer as a topic. In a remarkable confluence of genius, Sinclair Lewis,
T.S. Eliot, Carl Sandburg and Eugene O’Neill all stepped to the forefront in
the same year, 1920.
4. You
say that 1920, an iconic period, is misunderstood. Why? I have
explained above, Brian. It was not, for most Americans, the
happy-go-lucky era envisioned by so many novels, so many movies. It is
said that journalism is the first draft of history. It probably is.
And that is why history is so often riddled with so many
misunderstanding. The historian must look beyond the faded newspaper for
his sources. Journalism is simply the record of the most sensationalized
events of its era, not a guide to understanding the era.
5. Do
you draw any parallels to life in 1920 and modern America? I draw
them indirectly. In 1920, American suffered its first terrorist attack
and worst until Timothy McVeigh detonated Oklahoma City. And then came
9/11. After the attack in 1920 (which began, on a smaller scale, in
1919), legislators began to talk about “homeland security,” although they did
not use that term. Ninteen-twenty was Carlo Ponzi’s year, and the story,
increased exponentially, of Bernie Madoff. Perhaps the most significant
similarity between 1920 and today is that an unacceptable gulf still exists
between the incomes of the have and have-nots. One fears, given the power
of the haves, that it always will.
6. You
wrote several chapters about Ponzi schemes and Robber Barons. What fascinates
you about them? What fascinates me about Ponzi is (1) that he was
reborn in my lifetime, and the lifetimes of tens of millions of readers, as
Bernie Madoff, and (2) the story of Ponzi’s life, believe it or not, will end
with most readers feeling sympathetic toward him. Yeah.
Honest. What fascinates me about the robber barons is that they (1) still
exist, (2) and are still as powerful as they always were, so much so that (3) they
still govern the country. They just go by a blander, less offensive name
these days. They are not robber barons anymore; they are “in financial
services.” For the most part, their own financial service.
8. What
has been challenging – and rewarding – in penning a book like this?
Getting it right. Achieving the certainty of my interpretations, and in
the process providing a book worth thought, serious thought.
9. Where
do you see book publishing heading? Other than to state the obvious,
that Kindles and Nooks and those kinds playthings will continue to usurp the
shelf space on “book” stores, I don’t know. And I’m not even sure about
that. A lot of people love the feel of books, even the scent of
books. They look the look of books on their shelves. I have 2,200
volumes. I sit among them now, fortified, as I write.
10. Any
advice to struggling writers? If you want to write diet books,
books that prove the existence of angels, and novels that pass the Nicholas
Sparks test for banality, you may succeed. If you want to write
literature, real literature, keep your day job.
Writers, please never violate these three
rules!
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Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas
expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer. You can
follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him
at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the
third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2015
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