Quadrophenia and Mod(ern) Culture

Pamela Thurschwell is Reader in English Literature at the University of Sussex, UK. Her publications include Literature, Technology and Magical Thinking, 1880-1920 (2001) and Sigmund Freud (2000). She has also published widely on pop music, including essays on Billy Bragg, Bob Dylan, and Elvis Costello. She is currently writing a book on the temporality of adolescence in twentieth century.

1. Introduction: "Dressed Right for a Beach Fight"; Pamela Thurschwell.- Part One: Quadrophenia in its Histories.- 2. Brighton Rocked: Youth, Politics and Social Change During the Early 1960s;  Bill Osgerby.- 3.  'Who (the Fuck) are You?' Out with the In Crowd in Quadrophenia (1973); Ben Winsworth.- 4. Discovering the Who's Mod Past: The American Reception of Quadrophenia; Christine Feldman-Barrett.- 5. Heat Wave: The Who, the Mods and the Cultural Turn; Sam Cooper.- Part Two: The Mobility of Mod: Class, Culture and Identity.- 6. Class, Youth and Dirty Jobs: The working-class and post-war Britain in Pete Townshend's Quadrophenia; Keith Gildart.- 7. Quad to Run: the crucible of identity as represented in Quadrophenia (1973) and Born to Run (1975); Suzanne Coker.- 8. Taking the 5:15: Mods, Social Mobility and the Railway; Tom F. Wright.- Part Three: Reading Quadrophenia: Genre, Gender, Sexuality.- 9. "What are you gonna do tonight? Wait for a phone call I suppose": Girls, Mod Subculture, and reactions to the film Quadrophenia; Rosalind Watkiss Singelton.- 10. "Poofs wear lacquer, don't they, eh?": Quadrophenia and the Queerness of Mod Culture; Peter Hughes Jachimiak.- 11. The Drowning Machine: the sea and the scooter in Quadrophenia; Brian Baker.- 12. '"You were under the impression, that when you were walking forwards, that you'd end up further onwards, but things ain't quite that simple": Time Travelling and Quadrophenia's segues; Pamela Thurschwell.- 13. Interview with Franc Roddam.- 14. Interview with Ethan Russell.- Index.

"This is probably the best book on Mod culture so far. ... it is the one with the best academic approach to it and a real understanding of the subculture that goes beyond pure distanced sociological writing and simplifying banalities ... . Highly recommended reading." (Dr. A. Ebert, popcultureshelf.com, February, 2018)

“This is probably the best book on Mod culture so far. … it is the one with the best academic approach to it and a real understanding of the subculture that goes beyond pure distanced sociological writing and simplifying banalities … . Highly recommended reading.” (Dr. A. Ebert, popcultureshelf.com, February, 2018)