Season
Subject(s)
A Choice Outstanding Academic Book
The forty years from 1880 to 1920 marked the golden age of the American theatre as a national institution, a time when actors moved from being players outside the boundaries of respectable society to being significant figures in the social landscape. As the only book that provides an overview of the late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century theatre, Actors and American Culture is also the only study of the legitimate stage that overtly attempts to connect actors and their work to the wider aspects of American life.
鈥淎 major contribution to the study of the American theater 鈥horoughly researched, well-documented, and illustrated 鈥elongs in every library.鈥濃Choice
鈥淚t is always a pleasure to review a book of this quality and importance
鈥淚t is always a pleasure to review a book of this quality and importance . . . and it is refreshing to see cultural history linked to such larger social changes as urbanization and the rise of mass media . . . a first-class job.鈥濃Reviews in American History
鈥淎 serious, thoroughgoing study . . . cultural movements flow together as into a sort of tide, floating the actor up in the mind of the public until the pinnacle of the American Dream is reached.鈥濃Times Literary Supplement
鈥淭his is an admirable book for several reasons. Chief among them is Benjamin McArthur鈥檚 fidelity to his purpose: to trace and document the actor鈥檚 changing position in American culture during the forty years from 1880 to 1920. . . . In fulfilling his purpose, McArthur cites much unusual information not found in standard histories of the theater.鈥濃American Historical Review
Paperback
ISBN-13
9780877457107
Retail price
$24.00
Publication Details
Publication Details
Publication Date
04/25/2000Pages
304 pagesArt
11 photosEdition
1st
