Not quite true. Read my book mentioned above or better yet Runnin Wild by David Stenn. Clara Bow did quite well in talkies although she did have a lot of problems adjusting because she was used to the pantomime style silent acting technique. Her personal issues and ultimate mental illness drive over from Hollywood when she married Rex Bell. However talking pictures destroyed the careers of many silent movie stars. In fact John Wayne‘s first big break in the movie The Big Trail in 1930 came about because first choices like Gary Cooper were unavailable, and other silent cowboy stars did not have voices suitable for talkies.
I am a student of the twenties, but your book may be a little too tightly focused, as football rivalries don’t interest me. The stuff I like appears in books like...
Only Yesterday
Since Yesterday
The Shadow of Blooming Grove
The Ohio Gang
The President’s Daughter...
and of course all the works of Sinclair Lewis.