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American Fun: Four Centuries of Joyous Revolt
Here is an animated and wonderfully engaging work of cultural history that lays out America’s unruly past by describing the ways in which cutting loose has always been, and still is, an essential part of what it means to be an American.
From the time the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, Americans have defied their stodgy rules and hierarchies with pranks, dances, stunts, and wild parties, shaping the national character in profound and lasting ways. In the nation’s earlier eras, revelers flouted Puritans, Patriots pranked Redcoats, slaves lampooned masters, and forty-niners bucked the saddles of an increasingly uptight middle class. In the twentieth century, fun-loving Americans celebrated this heritage and pushed it even flappers “barney-mugged” in “petting pantries,” Yippies showered the New York Stock Exchange with dollar bills, and B-boys invented hip-hop in a war zone in the Bronx.
This is the surprising and revelatory history that John Beckman recounts in American Fun . Tying together captivating stories of Americans’ “pursuit of happiness”—and distinguishing between real, risky fun and the bland amusements that paved the way for Hollywood, Disneyland, and Xbox—Beckman redefines American culture with a delightful and provocative thesis.
(With black-and-white illustrations throughout.)
From the time the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, Americans have defied their stodgy rules and hierarchies with pranks, dances, stunts, and wild parties, shaping the national character in profound and lasting ways. In the nation’s earlier eras, revelers flouted Puritans, Patriots pranked Redcoats, slaves lampooned masters, and forty-niners bucked the saddles of an increasingly uptight middle class. In the twentieth century, fun-loving Americans celebrated this heritage and pushed it even flappers “barney-mugged” in “petting pantries,” Yippies showered the New York Stock Exchange with dollar bills, and B-boys invented hip-hop in a war zone in the Bronx.
This is the surprising and revelatory history that John Beckman recounts in American Fun . Tying together captivating stories of Americans’ “pursuit of happiness”—and distinguishing between real, risky fun and the bland amusements that paved the way for Hollywood, Disneyland, and Xbox—Beckman redefines American culture with a delightful and provocative thesis.
(With black-and-white illustrations throughout.)
432 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2014
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157 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
set-aside
April 19, 2014This isn't a real review of this book, which I intentionally only read one chapter out of, but I have to tell this true story even though I'll probably get some of the details wrong.
In the mid '60s, one of my uncles with some other teenagers, I think including the family's Swedish exchange student, decided to put up a large billboard on a busy road on the stodgy Main Line, which would read "MOST CHILDREN ARE CAUSED BY ACCIDENTS IN THE HOME." According to family lore, my grandfather found out about this plan--because the component parts were in the garage--and intervened by suggesting that they sink the poles of the billboard in cement instead just in the ground, which would make it harder to remove, and possibly also procured the cement for them. I've seen the newspaper clipping which is a photo of the billboard with a caption along the lines of "We reserve comment on this billboard which was removed by police from Old Eagle School Road." Intergenerational, international pranks are the best pranks.
So I got this book because I wanted to read up on Thomas Morton, a notorious Massachusetts colonist who annoyed his Puritan neighbors by doing things like putting up a maypole, brewing beer, consorting with the Indians, and such-and-such. I enjoyed the part of the book about Thomas Morton but it remains confusing because we are descended from the totally unrelated George Morton family, who seemingly had no contact with Thomas, although family lore has it that our branch were eventually "invited" to go live in Connecticut instead, due to being not very good Puritans. This book didn't really shed any light on the Mortons other than to confirm that they probably didn't have anything to do with each other; I enjoyed it, but not enough to read beyond the specific chapter that motivated me to pick it up.
ETA: Family discussion of this post on Facebook reveals that my younger uncle was posted as a lookout in some shrubbery during the erection of the billboard, and got poison ivy on his rear for his troubles.
In the mid '60s, one of my uncles with some other teenagers, I think including the family's Swedish exchange student, decided to put up a large billboard on a busy road on the stodgy Main Line, which would read "MOST CHILDREN ARE CAUSED BY ACCIDENTS IN THE HOME." According to family lore, my grandfather found out about this plan--because the component parts were in the garage--and intervened by suggesting that they sink the poles of the billboard in cement instead just in the ground, which would make it harder to remove, and possibly also procured the cement for them. I've seen the newspaper clipping which is a photo of the billboard with a caption along the lines of "We reserve comment on this billboard which was removed by police from Old Eagle School Road." Intergenerational, international pranks are the best pranks.
So I got this book because I wanted to read up on Thomas Morton, a notorious Massachusetts colonist who annoyed his Puritan neighbors by doing things like putting up a maypole, brewing beer, consorting with the Indians, and such-and-such. I enjoyed the part of the book about Thomas Morton but it remains confusing because we are descended from the totally unrelated George Morton family, who seemingly had no contact with Thomas, although family lore has it that our branch were eventually "invited" to go live in Connecticut instead, due to being not very good Puritans. This book didn't really shed any light on the Mortons other than to confirm that they probably didn't have anything to do with each other; I enjoyed it, but not enough to read beyond the specific chapter that motivated me to pick it up.
ETA: Family discussion of this post on Facebook reveals that my younger uncle was posted as a lookout in some shrubbery during the erection of the billboard, and got poison ivy on his rear for his troubles.
August 31, 2018
Very interesting history of fun, focused on counterculture and its clash with the public sphere. If fun interests you, compare this book to Reality is Broken by Jane McGonigal, which focuses more on video games and also on issues in modern times. Though Beckman has a hatred of video games, the two books agree on a lot of points. The dismissal of video games is unfair and I may write an essay on that. But other than that, there's a lot of interesting points brought up and it's fascinating to see different parts of American culture through the lens of fun.
Some are complaining it's a dry read and it's true that it's not exactly the most engaging style of writing, but I think college has caused me to change my standard for what is "boring." I have read some extremely boring books over the years, and this book is not one of them. It's more on the boring side of the spectrum, but if you can get through academic papers and the topic interests you, you'll probably find at least some parts of this book interesting.
Some are complaining it's a dry read and it's true that it's not exactly the most engaging style of writing, but I think college has caused me to change my standard for what is "boring." I have read some extremely boring books over the years, and this book is not one of them. It's more on the boring side of the spectrum, but if you can get through academic papers and the topic interests you, you'll probably find at least some parts of this book interesting.
August 3, 2016
While this books covers an awful lot of ground I am going to punk the author for overlooking something I think is important, and I am sure, that the author (as a "teacher of history at the US Naval Academy") does not. He delves into America's cultural periods and more or less draws defining lines, events, lives, and trends. But once he gets to the 1960's he takes a big "duh" pill. While earnestly covering the Acid Tests an Ken Kesey's contributions to "American fun' he overlooks the longtime surviving cultural fizz from that froth, that is, the phenomenon of the Dead Heads. surely, the continuation of the grateful dead's musical career over five decades of American history must count as something as worth Beckman's notice, eh? Mais non. After all, "DeadHead-dom" survived alongside and symbiotically with the band, and even today, exists in those places where the band concerts and Dead freaks congregate, sans Garcia but as strong and tight as ever. Perhaps the erstwhile cadets at Mr. Beckman's school could come up with some appropriate prank to set him back on his stuffy academic butt? I am sure they could think of something.
May 6, 2014
From Merry Mount to Burning Man, AMERICAN FUN takes the reader on a roller-coaster history of Americans, whether they be consumers, activists or partiers, having fun. The 20s and the 60s were the funnest decades and authority figures have always lurked in the shadows, eager to make corporations people or commercialize rock' n roll, but the American people have learned that laughing, in any era and in the face if any stuff shirt, is part of the responsibility of a citizen.
October 7, 2014
Stretches the definition of fun to include political protests. Has some strong sections, particularly on the early conceptions of fun in the colonial period. Also some interesting commentary on the 1920s. Overall not much fun to read, very clinical analysis of the topic in an almost textbook style that is in need of editing.
January 16, 2015
Enjoyable and entertaining to read, but I think because the scope is so big a lot of the nuance gets lost. And the author can be very judgmental arbitrarily, i.e. he really condemns tv and especially video games. This is an okay survey of American pop culture/recreation/leisure, but if any parts of it particularly interest you, it's worth it to go to his sources and dig deeper.
Read
June 13, 2014only got so far and had to set it aside...long read
Want to read
April 1, 2014Top 5 Pop Culture - PLA
April 17, 2014
Unfocused
September 27, 2015
Boring........
September 23, 2017
Very dry, heavy and worthy. I was interested, learned a lot, and hugely enjoyed it, but ironically it wasn't much *fun* to read.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews