The Uncertainty of Everyday Life, 1915-1945

In this splendid account of our society in this century, Green ( Light of the Home ) traces the minute changes that, as they accumulated, shook the underpinnings of the ``American Way'' of life. He examines the subtle effects of the confusing choices available in the contemporary marketplace (the Model A Ford, by contrast, was available in just one shape and color), and the gradual changes in the labor movement, the work ethic, education, concepts of sex and marriage, the practice of medicine, reading habits, scientific and technological advances, sports and pleasure. Pressed by the plethora of uncertainties these transformations produced, a ``sanitized vision'' of American history ``became a mooring for many Americans,'' yet their idea of the nation as a chosen people in a promised land ``precluded their ability to comprehend that their culture and the world were changing at the very moment they wished--and assumed--history would stop.'' Green's voice is calm and detached, his material is rich and colorful; his approach is original; the impact is powerful. Illustrations not seen by PW. (Aug.)