Hercule
Practically Family
- Messages
- 953
- Location
- Western Reserve (Cleveland)
Can anyone recommend any books on radio drama? Not how to but history and overview of the genre.
-
The Fedora Lounge is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.
Books on Radio Drama
- Thread starter Hercule
- Start date
MikeKardec
One Too Many
- Messages
- 1,157
- Location
- Los Angeles
John Dunning wrote a couple of non fiction books and the great, Two O'Clock Eastern Wartime. A novel that goes deeper into Radio Drama than any other I have read.
dhermann1
I'll Lock Up
- Messages
- 9,154
- Location
- Da Bronx, NY, USA
Ask Lizzie Maine. She is the ULTIMATE maven. I read a fun novel on the subject called "Two O'clock Eastern War Time". Much fun, and very informative:
http://www.amazon.com/Two-OClock-Eastern-Wartime-Novel/dp/0743421469
http://www.amazon.com/Two-OClock-Eastern-Wartime-Novel/dp/0743421469
- Messages
- 13,376
- Location
- Orange County, CA
There's also Lizzie's book on Amos n' Andy: The Original Amos 'n' Andy: Freeman Gosden, Charles Correll and the 1928-1943 Radio Serial
Last edited:
Wally_Hood
One Too Many
- Messages
- 1,772
- Location
- Screwy, bally hooey Hollywood
Dunning's Tune in Yesterday is pretty thorough and really entertaining. I keep reading through it for the exceptional writing and the love he has for the medium.
Espee
Practically Family
- Messages
- 548
- Location
- southern California
Oh yeah, that IS her!
I'm reading David Eisenhower's "Going Home to Glory" which talks about-- though not in much detail-- Dwight Eisenhower being pals with Freeman Gosden. (Buddies from Augusta National Country Club.)
LizzieMaine
Bartender
- Messages
- 33,061
- Location
- Where The Tourists Meet The Sea
They were actually introduced by the toymaker Louis Marx, who had been close to Correll and Gosden ever since he manufactured the "Fresh Air Taxicab" toy in the early thirties. Gos and Ike remained very close friends right up until Ike's death -- and Gosden went on to be a prime mover behind the Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage as a memorial to their friendship.
Back to the original question, some other books on the history of radio drama would be Leonard Maltin's "The Great American Broadcast," for a good overview of the whole radio era, and Gerald Nachman's "Raised on Radio" for an informal listener's reminiscence. Both of these books are more nostalgic overviews than scholarly studies, and there are historical errors, but they give you a good basic grounding in the background of the medium. If you decide to get more technical as you go on, some books actually written in the Era might be useful, including Erik Barnouw's "Hand Book of Radio Writing," Max Wylie's "Radio Writing," and Waldo Abbott's "Handbook of Broadcasting," all of which include sections on the development of dramatic technique.
Back to the original question, some other books on the history of radio drama would be Leonard Maltin's "The Great American Broadcast," for a good overview of the whole radio era, and Gerald Nachman's "Raised on Radio" for an informal listener's reminiscence. Both of these books are more nostalgic overviews than scholarly studies, and there are historical errors, but they give you a good basic grounding in the background of the medium. If you decide to get more technical as you go on, some books actually written in the Era might be useful, including Erik Barnouw's "Hand Book of Radio Writing," Max Wylie's "Radio Writing," and Waldo Abbott's "Handbook of Broadcasting," all of which include sections on the development of dramatic technique.
