About this book
Theodore Dreiser's groundbreaking essay collection, Hollywood: Its Morals and Manners, offers a piercing examination of the motion picture industry during its explosive golden age. Originally serialized in Shadowland magazine from 1921 to 1922, this four-part exposé captures Dreiser's unflinching observations from his extended stay in Los Angeles, revealing the glamorous façade and darker realities that defined early Hollywood culture.
Through his keen sociological lens, Dreiser explores the moral contradictions, power dynamics, and human costs underlying the film industry's rapid rise to dominance. His candid reflections on the manners and morals of studio executives, directors, and performers challenge the sanitized public image of cinema's golden era, exposing the exploitation, ambition, and desperation that thrived behind closed studio doors. Drawing on his background as a naturalist writer, Dreiser presents Hollywood not as a dreamland but as a complex social ecosystem shaped by money, desire, and influence.
This compelling work remains essential reading for understanding how entertainment industries function and the gap between public perception and private reality. Ideal for history enthusiasts, film buffs, and anyone fascinated by early 20th-century American culture, Dreiser's sharp social commentary continues to resonate. His insider perspective provides invaluable context for understanding how Hollywood became America's most powerful storytelling force and the moral questions that have surrounded it ever since.
