"In Pinocchio Goes Postmodern, sociologist Richard Wunderlich and literary critic Thomas J. Morrissey trace the ways in which the revamped American Pinocchio has trivialized the real struggles of childhood depicted in Collodi's tale. Drawing upon an exhaustive collection of American Pinocchio publications, films, and stage performances, the authors show how the tale's innumerable transformations illuminate a period of great social and political change between the First World War and the postmodern present. An ambitious work of both literary criticism and cultural analysis, Pinocchio Goes Postmodern raises provocative questions about storytelling, adaptation, and the cultural importance of children's literature."--BOOK JACKET.