Going Out : The Rise and Fall of Public Amusements

David Nasaw

ISBN 10: 0674356225 / ISBN 13: 9780674356221

Published by Harvard University Press Apr 1999, 1999

About this Item

Neuware - David Nasaw has written a sparkling social history of twentieth-century show business and of the new American public that assembled in the city's pleasure palaces, parks, theaters, nickelodeons, world's fair midways, and dance halls. The new amusement centers welcomed women, men, and children, native-born and immigrant, rich, poor and middling. Only African Americans were excluded or segregated in the audience, though they were overrepresented in parodic form on stage. This stigmatization of the African American, Nasaw argues, was the glue that cemented an otherwise disparate audience, muting social distinctions among 'whites,' and creating a common national culture.

Seller Inventory # 9780674356221

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Going Out : The Rise and Fall of Public Amusements
• Publisher: Harvard University Press Apr 1999
• Publication Date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0674356225
• ISBN 13: 9780674356221
• Binding: Taschenbuch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 236W x 158H x 30D millimeters 236 millimeters width by 158 millimeters height by 30 millimeters depth
• Weight: 554 grams

About this title

Synopsis

David Nasaw has written a sparkling social history of twentieth-century show business and of the new American public that assembled in the city's pleasure palaces, parks, theaters, nickelodeons, world's fair midways, and dance halls.

The new amusement centers welcomed women, men, and children, native-born and immigrant, rich, poor and middling. Only African Americans were excluded or segregated in the audience, though they were overrepresented in parodic form on stage. This stigmatization of the African American, Nasaw argues, was the glue that cemented an otherwise disparate audience, muting social distinctions among "whites," and creating a common national culture.

About the Author

David Nasaw is Professor of History and American Studies at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.