ABSTRACT
The shortcomings of Elaine Tyler May's Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era have been apparent since its initial publication. Scholars usually criticize the broad strokes with which Homeward Bound paints domestic culture and suburban identity. May spent several years researching and writing Homeward Bound, the process benefiting from the support of an academic community through countless drafts, edits, and re-edits. Both May and the academic community see Homeward Bound as one component of a much broader scholarly investigation into identity in mid-century America. The limited scope of May's investigation does little to reduce the study's reputation and usefulness as a seminal analysis of the home and of gendered American identity. May's study established a solid basis on which other studies could elaborate. This has allowed subsequent scholars to investigate identities excluded from Homeward Bound's methodology and debate.
