| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 89.2

You have not been recognized as a subscriber to JAH online. About 136 words from this article are provided below; about 343 words remain.

If you are a individual member of the Organization of American Historians, you may:: • login here if you have already registered for online access.; • Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.
• Set up your online account for the first time.
If you are not a member of the Organization of American Historians, you can:: • Join the OAH and receive many member benefits including print and electronic issues of the Journal of American History.
• Purchase a research pass to gain two-hour access to the entire History Cooperative web site. You will have full access to current issues of the Journal of American History (86.1-present). Note: the Research Pass does not provide access to JSTOR's holdings of the Journal of American History.
Instititutions can:: • Subscribe to this journal and receive print and electronic issues.
• Activate your existing subscription so that we recognize your IP number ranges.

| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 89.2 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Playing the Race Card: Melodramas of Black and White from Uncle Tom to O. J. Simpson. By Linda Williams. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001. xviii, 401 pp. $32.50, ISBN 0-691-05800-8.)

Linda Williams, a film scholar, situates her highly detailed study of culturally influential, cross-media representations of race in the United States within one of the most derided of popular genres, the melodrama. Recognizing the "insidious power" of the melodramatic "form" (as she prefers to call it) to thrill, sadden, and delight mass audiences, Williams urges critical attention rather than condescension. In particular, she argues, the form should be examined "in those places where it has made a difference in the American national imaginary: in the ongoing conflicts of racial virtue and villainy that have taken place in the melodramas of black and white." . . .

There are about 343 more words in this article. Please log in (or, if you are not yet an authorized user, please go to the User Setup page) to gain full access rights. Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.