{"product_id":"9780252092220","title":"Paradoxes of Prosperity: Wealth Seeking in Pre-Civil War America","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn the midst of the United States' immense economic growth in the 1850s, Americans worried about whether the booming agricultural, industrial, and commercial expansion came at the price of cherished American values such as honesty, hard work, and dedication to the common good. Was the nation becoming greedy, selfish, vulgar, and cruel? Was there such a thing as \u003cu\u003etoo much\u003c\/u\u003e prosperity?\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAt the same time, the United States felt the influence of the rise of popular mass-circulation newspapers and magazines and the surge in American book publishing. Concern over living correctly as well as prosperously was commonly discussed by leading authors and journalists, who were now writing for ever-expanding regional and national audiences. Women became more important as authors and editors, giving advice and building huge markets for women readers, with the magazine \u003cu\u003eGodey's Lady's Book\u003c\/u\u003e and with e expressing women's views about the troubled state of society. Best-selling male writers--including novelist George Lippard, historian George Bancroft, and travel writer Bayard Taylor--were among those adding their voices to concerns about prosperity and morality and about America's place in the world. Writers and publishers discovered that a high moral tone could be exceedingly good for business.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe authors of this book examine how popular writers and widely read newspapers, magazines, and books expressed social tensions between prosperity and morality. This study draws on that nationwide conversation through leading mass media, including circulation-leading newspapers, the \u003cu\u003eNew York Herald\u003c\/u\u003e and the \u003cu\u003eNew York Tribune\u003c\/u\u003e, plus prominent newspapers from the South and West, the \u003cu\u003eRichmond Enquirer\u003c\/u\u003e and the \u003cu\u003eCincinnati Enquirer.\u003c\/u\u003e Best-selling magazines aimed at middle-class tastes, \u003cu\u003eHarper's Magazine\u003c\/u\u003e and the \u003cu\u003eSouthern Literary Messenger,\u003c\/u\u003e added their voices, as did two leading business magazines.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"University of Illinois Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47074122662128,"sku":"9780252092220","price":19.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780252092220_p0.jpg?v=1763679912","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780252092220","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}