On the Shelf: Mad Men, Mad World

MAD MEN, MAD WORLD | SEX, POLITICS, STYLE & THE 1960S | DUKE UNIVERSITY PRESS | MARCH 2013

Since the show's debut in 2007, Mad Men has invited viewers to immerse themselves in the lush period settings, ruthless Madison Avenue advertising culture, and arresting characters at the center of its 1960s fictional world. Mad Men, Mad World is a comprehensive analysis of this groundbreaking TV series. Scholars from across the humanities consider the AMC drama from a fascinating array of perspectives, including fashion, history, architecture, civil rights, feminism, consumerism, art, cinema, and the serial format, as well as through theoretical frames such as critical race theory, gender, queer theory, global studies, and psychoanalysis.

I realize that this makes me a giant nerd, but I love reading academic texts. Especially when they are related to analyzing popular culture. I've always believed that pop culture should be understood through the lenses of different disciplines. This book is the perfect example of how a show becomes even more meaningful when you understand its background. With Mad Men being a period piece, this book focuses on the show's representation of 1960s culture.

One of the things I love about Mad Men, Mad World is that the text uses screen caps from the show to illustrate certain scenes. The use of images is rare in an academic text and I appreciated the visual component. Mad Men, Mad World also includes images from other events of the 1960s when comparing history to the plot of Mad Men. This makes the book a great item for Mad Men fans and history buffs.

I didn't enjoy every article in the book - some were too dry to appeal to my leisurely reading habits - but academic research does come down to personal preference. Even the drier articles have good topics and will be helpful for research projects within certain disciplines. There were a few articles that I really enjoyed and made me appreciate the television show even more:

- "Maddening Times: Mad Men in Its History" by Dana Polan

- "After the Sex, What?: A Feminist Reading of Reproductive History in Mad Men" by Leslie J. Reagan

- "Swing Skirts and Swinging Singles: Mad Men, Fashion, and Cultural Memory"by Mabel Rosenheck

---

"Despite the fact that she succeeds at Sterling Cooper because she is a woman and offers a female perspective on products like lipstick and weight-loss belts, as she moves away from her girlishness, there is equal pressure on her to be - and by extension, to appear and to dress - both more feminine and more masculine." - Mabel Rosenheck, "Swing Skirts and Swinging Singles"