Amusing the million: Coney Island at the turn of the century (American century series) - Softcover

Kasson, John F.

3.56

599 ratings by Goodreads

9780809026173: Amusing the million: Coney Island at the turn of the century (American century series)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0809026171 ISBN 13: 9780809026173

Publisher: Hill & Wang, 1978

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Coney Island: the name still resonates with a sense of racy Brooklyn excitement, the echo of beach-front popular entertainment before World War I. Amusing the Million examines the historical context in which Coney Island made its reputation as an amusement park and shows how America's changing social and economic conditions formed the basis of a new mass culture. Exploring it afresh in this way, John Kasson shows Coney Island no longer as the object of nostalgia but as a harbinger of modernity--and the many photographs, lithographs, engravings, and other reproductions with which he amplifies his text support this lively thesis.

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Review:

"This is what a history of popular culture should be: a delightful account of a fascinating subject and a serious contribution to our understanding of major transition in American culture."--John G. Cawelti, University of Chicago
"Because he treats our frivolities seriously, John Kasson has produced an important book which helps us all understand ourselves. His inquiry into the nature and significance of Coney Island as part of the American experience provides a brilliant device for understanding major transformations in American culture at the turn of the century...A delight to read, look at, and ponder...itself a great amusement for the mind."--Warren Susman, Rutgers University
"Not only delightful reading but a perceptive look at a familiar American institution..Social-cultural history ought to be done this way more often."--Russel B. Nye, Michigan State University

This is what a history of popular culture should be: a delightful account of a fascinating subject and a serious contribution to our understanding of major transition in American culture. "John G. Cawelti, University of Chicago"

Because he treats our frivolities seriously, John Kasson has produced an important book which helps us all understand ourselves. His inquiry into the nature and significance of Coney Island as part of the American experience provides a brilliant device for understanding major transformations in American culture at the turn of the century...A delight to read, look at, and ponder...itself a great amusement for the mind. "Warren Susman, Rutgers University"

Not only delightful reading but a perceptive look at a familiar American institution..Social-cultural history ought to be done this way more often. "Russel B. Nye, Michigan State University""

"Because he treats our frivolities seriously, John Kasson has produced an important book which helps us all understand ourselves. His inquiry into the nature and significance of Coney Island as part of the American experience provides a brilliant device for understanding major transformations in American culture at the turn of the century...A delight to read, look at, and ponder...itself a great amusement for the mind." --Warren Susman, Rutgers University

"Not only delightful reading but a perceptive look at a familiar American institution..Social-cultural history ought to be done this way more often." --Russel B. Nye, Michigan State University

About the Author:

John F. Kasson, who teaches history and American studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is the author of Houdini, Tarzan and the Perfect Man, Amusing the Million, Rudeness and Civility, and Civilizing the Machine.

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