The Beach: The History of Paradise on Earth - Hardcover

Lencek, Lena; Bosker, Gideon

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0670880957 ISBN 13: 9780670880959

Publisher: Viking Adult, 1998

Synopsis

A unique, illustrated account of the development of the beach traces the history of its image in popular culture, the rise of the great resorts from Coney Island to Cap d'Antibes, and the evolution of the leisure industry. 20,000 first printing.

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Reviews

...The Beach makes too much of too little. The assumption that everything is blessed (or cursed) with Larger Meanings is fundamental to cultural commentary, and practitioners of such always look for meanings even when they are not there.... The best counsel is to read through this malarkey and concentrate on the authors' research, which is thorough, careful and unfailingly informative.

Lencek and Bosker (Making Waves) have turned out a thorough but often leaden chronicle of what "the beach" has meant to humankind from Roman nobles to WWII assault troops to modern eco-tourists. Their scholarly approach seems tedious in service of a normally lively subject. Details noting coastal zoning laws enacted by the ancient Greeks and England's priggish turn-of-the-century approach to public bathing are interesting, but the story gathers momentum only in contemporary days. Accounts of America's iconographical retreats are noteworthyAConey Island, Miami Beach, Southern California, HawaiiAare covered, as is the evolution of swimwear: "The swimsuit on the beach tells the square-inch-by-square-inch history of how skin went public in modern times." But the authors become highhanded, bemoaning the fallen status of the modern beach vacation; ecotourists are part of a "highly contrived ritual," while luxury travelers are "entirely divorced from nature." Still, the authors see fit to include such resorts as Cancun's Ritz-Carlton in their appendix of recommended beach stays. Waves, sand, bikini babes, surfer boys, sun-worshipping hedonistsAthere is enough material here for a bit of fun in "the history of paradise on Earth," but this treatment turns out to be disappointingly dry. Illustrated.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A husband-and-wife team of popular-culture experts provides a lively celebration of the beach, ``nature's most potent antidepressant.'' Lenek (The Antic Alphabet, 1994) and Bosker, professors of Russian and medicine, respectively, who live in Oregon, are clearly in love with beaches. In this, their latest in a series of popular-culture studies (including one on bathing suits), they have transformed their unabashed passion for sun and sand (or rocks, as it may be) into a romp through the history of beaches, from their ancient geological formation to the environmental and commercial dangers that threaten them today. Along the way, they explore sexuality, sport, architecture, and fashion at the beach. At the heart of their historical narrative is the premise that the beach as we know it today is a recent phenomenon. Here we witness the beach's gradual transformation from a hostile wildernesssite of conquest, commerce, and tribal practicesto a civilized recreation site. Throughout, the historical narrative is limited to Western cultures, primarily American and European. Chapters often begin with fictional tableaus that lend an intimate feel to the narrative. Throughout, The Beach is filled with fascinating illustrations and photographs of the once-popular bathing machine, assorted swimsuit styles of the past (including the first adhesive brassiere!), and the ``Tan-O-Meter,'' a gas-pump-shaped tanning-oil dispenser. But for all their mirth, Lenek and Bosker are serious about the beach's role in history and its appeal to the human imagination. In the end, they argue, ``it is to the beach . . . that we go to reinvent ourselves.'' For those readers unable to resist the beach's appeal, the authors include a highly select list of the world's hottest and fanciest beach hotels and resorts. Those who ordinarily bike or walk to the local beach will find pleasure and novelty in The Beach, but they'd better look elsewhere for seashore recommendations. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Len cek and Bosker are professional academics (of Russian history and clinical medicine, respectively) who write informative books on popular culture for a mass audience. Their latest contribution to cultural studies focuses on the different roles that the beach experience has played in shaping, and sometimes defining, the consumption of leisure. "The sensations of the beach are as primary as life itself," they argue. "We are drawn to the beach to return to our conscious mind the sensation of the body?not in the private, compartmentalized world of bath or boudoir...but at the infinitely creative junction of elements where habit and convention dissipate and imagination once again takes over." Their coverage of beach consumption is nothing if not exhaustive?their survey of "paradise" ranges from the geological formation of beaches and the function of beaches in the ancient world to the differential status of beaches in the 20th century and the use of beach imagery in the youth movies of the 1960s. This would be an obvious choice for anyone who wants to take a serious book to the beach; it is also a valuable addition to the literature on the cultural politics of leisure-time activities.?Kent Worcester, Marymount Manhattan Coll., New York
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Viking Adult
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0670880957
• ISBN 13: 9780670880959
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 352