Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
The gatherings depicted within these pages initially appear to be the bridge parties of slightly bored, if typical, mid-century housewives; on closer inspection, it becomes apparent that these women?drinking, playing scrabble, smoking, knitting and mugging for the camera?are actually atypical mid-century men. The photos, presented sans accompanying text, are some of the 400 similar images Swope found at a New York flea market. Comprised of candid snapshots and posed portraits taken during the ?50s and ?60s at an upstate New York Victorian home dubbed ?Casa Susanna? by its cross-dressing frequenters, the book includes photos of the ladies having tea, relaxing in the backyard and preening for pageants and holiday parties. As a social document, this collection of photos provides readers with direct access to the ladies as they seize upon and amplify their era?s stereotypes of the womanly ideal. Equally intriguing as a record of atomic-age housewares, conservative housewife duds and the blushing interiors of a bygone era, the photos richly communicate the sense of solidarity among this cloistered group in pre-sexual revolution America. (July) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
