Going Out: The Rise and Fall of Public Amusements

by David Nasaw

Book Overview

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,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0465070302
• ISBN13: 9780465070305
• Release Date: December 1993
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Interesting, but not without flaws.

Nasaw offers an interesting account of the rise of public amusements such as baseball, amusement parks, vaudeville and nickelodeons at the turn of the century. He argues that these amuseuements united European immigrants as "American", in part by denying access to African-Americans. Yet, Nasaw does not adequately weave his discussion of African-Americans into his narrative. Similarly, he does not discuss other ethnic groups such as Asian-Americans and Hispanics, among others to investigate their accessibility to public amusements. Nasaw also limits his account primarily to Chicago and New York, while trying to draw broad implications for the entire country. He has offered very interesting anecdotes and provided a broad history of different amusements at the turn of the century, however, his analytical framework is not without its flaws.