‘Radio’ Books

I began collecting books on radio (plays, broadcasting histories, commentaries and fiction) while working on “Etherized Victorians,” my doctoral study on American radio plays of the 1930s, ’40, and early ‘50s.  As a student, I relied heavily on New York City’s many great public and university libraries and copied what I thought relevant to my argument.  Gradually, I am ditching the photocopies for the real thing as I add these volumes to my personal library. 

Although radio is still being written about, including by myself (Immaterial Culture), books contemporary with the medium’s so-called golden age are of particular interest to me as historical documents that attest to the radio play’s status and decline in American culture.

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Abbot, Waldo.  Handbook of Broadcasting.  2nd. ed.  McGraw-Hill, 1941.

Ace, Goodman.  Ladies and Gentlemen: Easy Aces.  Doubleday, 1970.

All About Amos ‘n’ Andy and Their Creators Correll and Gosden.  Rand McNally, 1929.

Allen, Fred.  Treadmill to Oblivion.  Little, 1954.

Andrews, Robert Hardy. Legend of a Lady. Coward-McCann, 1949. 

Bacher, William A., ed.  The Treasury Star Parade.  Farrar, 1942.

Barnouw, Erik.  The Golden Web.  Oxford UP, 1968. 

Barnouw, Erik.  Handbook of Radio Production.  Little, 1949.

Barnouw, Erik.  Radio Drama in Action.  Farrar and Rhinehart, 1945.

Barnouw, Erik.  A Tower in Babel.  Oxford UP, 1966.

Barrington, Jonah, and Fenwick.  Lord Haw-Haw of Zeesen.  Hutchinson, [1939].

Benét, Stephen Vincent.  We Stand United and Other Radio Scripts.  Farrar, 1944.

Berg, Gertrude.  The Rise of the Goldbergs.  Barse, 1931.

Berg, Gertrude, with Cherney Berg.  Molly and Me.  McGraw-Hill, 1961.

Boyd, James, ed.  The Free Company Presents.  Dodd, 1941.

Bridson, D. G.  Prospero and Ariel: The Rise and Fall of Radio.  Gollancz, 1971.

Buxton, Frank, and Bill Owen.  The Big Broadcast, 1920-1950.  Viking, 1972.

Cannell, J. C.  In Town To-Night.  Harrap, 1935.

Cantril, Hadley.  The Invasion from Mars. Princeton UP, 1940.

Charteris, Leslie, ed.  The Saint’s Choice of Radio Thrillers.  Saint Enterprises, 1946.

Chase, Francis, Jr.  Sound and Fury: An Informal History of Broadcasting.  Harper, 1942.

Corwin, Norman. More by Corwin.  Henry Holt, 1944.

Corwin, Norman.  On a Note of Triumph.  Simon, 1945.

Corwin, Norman.  Seems Radio Is Here to Stay.  CBS, 1939.

Corwin, Norman.  The Plot to Overthrow Christmas.  Peter Pauper, 1940.

Corwin, Norman.  They Fly Through the Air with the Greatest of Ease.  Vrest Orton, 1939.

Corwin, Norman.  Thirteen by Corwin.  Henry Holt, 1942.

Corwin, Norman.  Untitled and Other Radio Dramas.  Henry Holt, 1945. 

Coulter, Douglas, ed.  Columbia Workshop Plays.  Whittlesey-McGraw-Hill, 1939.

Crosby, John.  Out of the Blue: A Book about Radio and Television.  Simon, 1952.

Crews, Albert.  Professional Radio Writing.  Riverside-Houghton, 1946.

Cuthbert, Margaret, ed.  Adventure in Radio.  Howell, 1945.

Dixon, Peter.  Radio Sketches and How to Write Them.  Stokes, 1936.

Dixon, Peter.  Radio Writing.  Century, 1931.

Duncan, Peter.  In Town Tonight.  Werner Laurie, 1951.

Eichberg, Robert.  Radio Stars of Today.  Page, 1937.

Ellis, Kenneth M.  Dolores Divine: Guilty or Innocent?  Grosset, 1931.

Ellis, Kenneth M.  The Trial of Vivienne Ware.  Grosset, 1930. 

Felton, Felix.  The Radio Play: Its Techniques and Possibilities.  Sylvan, 1949.

Fox, Dixon Ryan, and Arthur M. Schlesinger, eds.  The Cavalcade of America.  Bradley, 1937.

Fox, Dixon Ryan, and Arthur M. Schlesinger, eds.  The Cavalcade of America.  Series 2. Bradley, 1938.

Fitelson, H. William, ed.  The Theatre Guild on the Air.  Rinehart, 1947.

Flynn, Bess.  Bachelor’s Children: A Synopsis of the Radio Program.  Old Dutch Cleanser, 1939.

Gaver, Jack, and Dave Stanley.  There’s Laughter in the Air!.  Greenberg, 1945.

Gielgud, Val.  British Radio Drama, 1922-1956.  Harrap, 1957.

Gielgud, Val, and Holt Marvell.  Death at Broadcasting House.  Rich, 1934.

Gilbert, Douglas. Floyd Gibbons: Knight of the Air.  McBride, 1930.

Harmon, Jim.  The Great Radio Comedians.  Doubleday, 1970.

Harmon, Jim.  The Great Radio Heroes.  Doubleday, 1967.

Higby, Mary Jane.  Tune in Tomorrow.  Cowles, 1968.

Husing, Ted.  My Eyes Are in My Heart.  Geis, 1959.

Julian, Joseph.  This Was Radio: A Personal Memoir.  Viking, 1975.

Kaplan, Milton Allen.  Radio and Poetry.  Columbia UP, 1949.

Kreymborg, Alfred.  The Four Apes, and Other Fables of Our Day.  Loker Raley, 1939.

Kreymborg, Alfred.  The Planets: A Modern Allegory.  Farrar, 1938.

Lampell, Millard.  The Long Way Home.  Julian Messner, 1946.

Landry, Robert J.  This Fascinating Radio Business.  Bobbs-Merrill, 1946.

Lass, A. H., Earle L. McGill, and Donald Axelrod, eds.  Plays from Radio.  Houghton, 1948.

Lawton, Sherman Paxton.  Radio Continuity Types.  Expression, 1938.

Lea, Gordon.  Radio Drama.  Unum, 1926.

Liss, Joseph, ed.  Radio’s Best Plays.  Greenberg, 1947.

Mackey, David R.  Drama on the Air.  Prentice, 1951.

MacLeish, Archibald.  The American Story: Ten Broadcasts.  Duell, 1944.

MacLeish, Archibald.  The Fall of the City: A Verse Play for Radio.  Farrar, 1937.

MacLeish, Archibald.  The Trojan Horse.  Houghton Mifflin, 1952.

McGill, Earle.  Radio Directing.  McGraw-Hill, 1940.

Niggli, Josephina.  Pointers on Radio Writing.  The Writer, 1946.

Oboler, Arch. Fourteen Radio Plays.  Random, 1940.

Oboler, Arch.  “Ivory Tower” and Other Radio Plays.  Targ, 1940. 

Oboler, Arch.  Oboler Omnibus: Radio Plays and Personalities.  Duell, 1945.

Oboler, Arch.  This Freedom: Thirteen New Radio Plays.  Random, 1942.

Priestley, J. B.  Postscripts.  Heineman, 1940.

Radio Alphabet.  Hastings, 1946.

Rhymer, Mary Frances, ed.  The Small House Half-way up in the Next Block.  McGraw-Hill, 1972.

Rolo, Charles J.  Radio Goes to War.  Putnam, 1942.

Ryan, Milo.  History in Sound.  U of Washington P, 1963.

Shaw, Irwin.  The Troubled Air.  Random, 1951.

Siepmann, Charles A.  Radio’s Second Chance.  Little, 1946.

Slate, Sam J., and Joe Cook.  It Sounds Impossible.  Macmillan, 1963.

The Story of Cheerio: By Himself.  Garden City, 1937.

Van Loon, Hendrik Willem.  Air-storming.  Harcourt, 1935.

Wakeman, Frederic.  The Hucksters.  Rinehart, 1946.

Weaver, Luther.  The Technique of Radio Writing.  Prentice, 1948.

Weiser, Norman S. ed.  The Writer’s Radio Theater, 1940-1941: Outstanding Plays of the Year.  Harper, 1941. 

Whipple, James.  How to Write for Radio. McGraw-Hill, 1938.

White, Paul W.  News on the Air.  Harcourt, 1947.

Wishengrad, Morton.  The Eternal Light.  Crown, 1947.

Woodfin, Jane. Of Mikes and Men.  McGraw, Hill, 1951.

Wylie, Max, ed.  Best Broadcasts of 1938-39.  Whittlesey House, 1939.

Wylie, Max, ed.  Best Broadcasts of 1939-40.  Whittlesey House, 1940.

Wylie, Max, ed.  Best Broadcasts of 1940-41.  Whittlesey House, 1942.

Wylie, Max.  Radio Writing.  Farrar, 1939.