Written Suburb

John D. Dorst is Professor of American Studies at the University of Wyoming. He is the author of Looking West, also available from the University of Pennsylvania Press.

• Introduction: Postmodernity as an Ethnographic Dilemma . . . Chadds Ford Souvenirs . . . Some History . . . Chadds Ford as a Site of Postmodernity: Veneers, Vignettes, & the Myth of Tradition . . . Chadds Ford Days: Living History & the Closed Space of Postmodern Consumption . . . An Allegory of Museums: A Comparative Reading of Two Gallery Displays . . . Conclusion: Self-estrangements

"A wonderful book that . . . is shrewd and often quite funny . . . [and] employs the tools of an anthropologist to explain the strange folkways of late 20th-century Pennsylvania suburbanites."-Philadelphia Inquirer"A subversive and postmodern work about the town of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. The book considers Wyeth country-what kind of place it is and how it is constituted. . . . Dorst asks questions about how the place represents itself to itself and to tourists."-Lingua Franca"The Written Suburb contains brilliant analysis of the myth of tradition and the workings of museums and historical societies. . . . Dorst's elegant, ironic prose makes his assault on the toxic combination of commerce and nostalgia sharp and satisfying. Folklorists should read, argue with, teach, and visit The Written Suburb again and again."-Journal of American Folklore"The Written Suburb presents a provocative and important methodological paradox for those communications scholars who practice or are interested in ethnography. . . . As a self-conscious post-ethnography, this work is powerful-and often humorous-both in describing the 'very weirdness' of suburban America in general and in demonstrating the problems in producing such a description."-Journal of Communication"The strength of The Written Suburb lies in Dorst's clear and lucid exposition of the cultural logic of postmodernity and in his application of the postmodern research agenda."-American Journal of Sociology