The box : an oral history of television, 1929-1961 /

This is a useful book, though not, as the dust wrapper blurb would have it, "the ultimate history" of the medium. The author interviewed some 400 people, then used snippets from those interviews to construct a topically arranged volume of historical anecdotes and insights into the development of television. That the book is assembled with emotional or entertainment impact first and facts somewhat down the list is evident in the first three lines of the introduction (suggesting Elvis got a US postage stamp and TV pioneer Philo Farnsworth did not--which is not the case). Each of the book's 20-plus chapters begins with a narrative introduction that sets the context for the collection of interview responses that follow. Interviewees are identified in the back of the book (some are now dead--luckily captured here in print for posterity). Kisseloff did a huge editing job to make this as readable as it is: since these are not give-and-take of interviews, but rather only the "answers," the context of the questions is missing. But the editing results in a smooth reading. For example, the story of a single event or program--say, the first broadcast of Today (1952)--is made up of snippets from three, five, or even ten different interviews. Thus, Kisseloff has provided a record--a lot of invaluable "I was there" material to give readers the color and sense of an exciting and developing new medium. General and undergraduate collections. C. Sterling; George Washington University

Television's early years may not interest MTV and X-Files fans, but nostalgic fortysomethings--and teens who have discovered The Honeymooners and Lucille Ball on cable--will find fascinating behind-the-scenes details and a solid outline of television's technological, economic, and public-policy context in this enlightening oral history. Kisseloff, who gathered Manhattanites' memories from the 1890s to World War II in You Must Remember This (1989), met with hundreds of famous and not-so-famous people from television's first generation--as well as relatives of pioneering inventors and entrepreneurs like Philo Farnsworth, "General" Sarnoff, and Ernst Alexanderson, who can no longer speak for themselves. Readers will recognize some names and "voices" : on-screen favorites like Hugh Downs, Betty Furness, Rod Steiger, Barbara Billingsley, and Studs Terkel and well-known offscreen figures like Red Quinlan, Pat Weaver, Arthur Penn, Don Hewitt, and Fred Friendly. But The Box is most valuable in blending the memories of recognized pioneers with those of dozens of invisible foot soldiers in TV's early struggles. A welcome, insightful supplement to Erik Barnouw's classic histories of the medium. --Mary Carroll

Kisseloff's (You Must Remember This, LJ 5/15/89) history of television's formative years will be of interest to historians, TV buffs, and the general public. The more than 500 interviews the author conducted are presented as an entertaining oral history. Those who contributed were there when the first televisions were invented, when TV shows were first developed and the performers became household names, and when others were blacklisted by the House Un-American Activities Committee. They include actors, writers, inventors, directors, and producers. Especially interesting are the sections on the blacklists of the 1950s and those on the early, live television shows, where anything could and did go wrong. A good complement to Michael Ritchie's Please Stand By: A Prehistory of Television (LJ 11/1/94), this is recommended for both public libraries and special collections.‘Judy Hauser, Oakland Schs. Lib. Svcs., Waterford, Mich. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A thoroughly engrossing grab bag of memories of the dawn of television. Editor and reporter Kisseloff's second oral history (after You Must Remember, 1989) covers the huge subject of television from its invention in the '20s until 1961, when FCC chairman Newt Minow described it as a ``vast wasteland.'' Interviewing hundreds of ``witnesses,'' Kisseloff starts with the evolution of the medium, from its halting technical development through the establishment of the networks. Then he broadens the story out to include everything from programming (comedy, drama, game shows, etc.) to business (advertising, local station management, etc.). He delivers fine recaps of such familiar topics as the blacklist and the quiz show scandals, but some of the most intriguing sections detail less covered subjects, such as the rise and fall of the Dumont network, racism in early television, and the Chicago station WNBQ, which gave us Dave Garroway, Studs Terkel, Kukla, Fran and Ollie, and more. Unfortunately, the oral history form carries its own inherent problems. Despite the brief introductions to each chapter, it's possible for readers without some previous knowledge of the subject to become lost in the sea of voices. And detail is often presented at the expense of clarity (Michael Ritchie's 1994 Please Stand By covers much of the same material as Kisseloff's early chapters in a much clearer format). In addition, the subject of television is so broad that, after 600 pages, the reader leaves recalling everything that Kisseloff omits. For example, imagine a history of television with nary a word by or about Steve Allen and Jack Paar. Still, there is so much to enjoy that few readers will complain. An always fascinating exploration of the rowdy, sometimes wonderful, sometimes appalling days of early television. (16 pages b&w photos, not seen) (Author tour)