This volume brings together nine original essays by cultural historians. The works aim to exhibit the promise of a cultural approach to understanding the range of American experiences from the seventeenth century to the present.

Introduction by Richard A. Wightman Fox and T.J. Jackson LearsThe Author and RepresentationSherwood Anderson: Looking for the White SpotT.J. Jackson LearsUnlimn'd They Disappear: Recollecting Yonnondio: From the ThirtiesChristopher P. WilsonCultural Sagas of the Moral LifeEarly American Murder Narratives: The Birth of HorrorKaren HalttunenIntimacy on Trial: Cultural Meanings of the Beecher-Titlton AffairRichard Wightman FoxThe Experience of ClassThe Class Experience of Mass Consumption: Workers as Consumers in Interwar AmericaLizabeth CohenBetween Culture and Consumption: The Mediations of the MiddlebrowJoan Shelley RubinPublic Power and the Production of CultureFighting for the American Family: Private Interests and Political Obligation in World War IIRobert WestbrookMaking Time: Representations of Technology at the 1964 World's FairMichael L. SmithAn Atmosphere of Effrontery: Richard Serra, "Tilted Arc," and the Crisis of Public ArtCasey Nelson Blake