The Bosom Serpent

Folklore and Popular Art

By Harold Schechter

1988

First Published

3.93

Average Rating

180

Number of Pages

5H30M

Audio Length

In our high-tech, consumerist culture, traditional folklore has found itself revived in an eclectic mix of popular works from B-movies, TV shows, and superhero comics to pulp novels and supermarket tabloids. With a strong emphasis on narrative and very little reliance on aesthetics, these forms of popular entertainment have often defied analysis. The Bosom Serpent fills this gap by revealing the pervasive similarities between traditional folklore motifs and our contemporary forms of amusement. By examining a variety of works and genres from classic fairy tales to supermarket tabloids, The Bosom Serpent demonstrates that today’s popular art is no more (or less) than the sort of unpretentious narrative entertainment human beings have always craved – tall tales dressed up to fit the concerns of the time.

Avg Rating

3.93

Number of Ratings

5 STARS

27%

4 STARS

40%

3 STARS

33%

2 STARS

1 STARS

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Author

Harold Schechter

Author · 41 books

Aka Jon A. Harrald (joint pseudonym with Jonna Gormley Semeiks) Harold Schechter is a true crime writer who specializes in serial killers. He attended the State University of New York in Buffalo, where he obtained a Ph.D. A resident of New York City, Schechter is professor of American literature and popular culture at Queens College of the City University of New York. Among his nonfiction works are the historical true-crime classics Fatal, Fiend, Deviant, Deranged, and Depraved. He also authors a critically acclaimed mystery series featuring Edgar Allan Poe, which includes The Hum Bug and Nevermore and The Mask of Red Death. Schechter is married to poet Kimiko Hahn. He has two daughters from a previous marriage: the writer Lauren Oliver and professor of philosophy Elizabeth Schechter.