With Amusement for All
A History of American Popular Culture since 1830
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Narrated by:
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Kevin Pierce
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By:
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LeRoy Ashby
About this listen
Popular culture is a central part of everyday life to many Americans. Personalities such as Elvis Presley, Oprah Winfrey, and Michael Jordan are more recognizable to many people than are most elected officials. With Amusement for All is the first comprehensive history of two centuries of mass entertainment in the United States, covering everything from the penny press to Playboy, the NBA to NASCAR, big band to hip hop, and other topics including film, comics, television, sports, dance, and music. Paying careful attention to matters of race, gender, class, technology, economics, and politics, LeRoy Ashby emphasizes the complex ways in which popular culture simultaneously reflects and transforms American culture, revealing that the world of entertainment constantly evolves as it tries to meet the demands of a diverse audience.
Trends in popular entertainment often reveal the tensions between competing ideologies, appetites, and values in American society. For example, in the late 19th century, Americans embraced "self-made men" such as John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie; the celebrities of the day were circus tycoons P.T. Barnum and James A. Bailey, Wild West star "Buffalo Bill" Cody, professional baseball organizer Albert Spalding, and prizefighter John L. Sullivan. At the same time, however, several female performers challenged traditional notions of weak, frail Victorian women. Adah Isaacs Menken astonished crowds by wearing tights that made her appear nude while performing dangerous stunts on horseback, and the shows of the voluptuous burlesque group British Blondes often centered on provocative images of female sexual power and dominance.
Ashby describes how history and politics frequently influence mainstream entertainment. When Native Americans, blacks, and other non-whites appeared in the 19th-century circuses and Wild West shows, it was often to perpetuate demeaning racial stereotypes - crowds jeered Sitting Bull at Cody's shows. By the early 20th century, however, black minstrel acts reveled in racial tensions, reinforcing stereotypes while at the same time satirizing them and mocking racist attitudes before a predominantly white audience. Decades later, Red Foxx and Richard Pryor's profane comedy routines changed American entertainment. The raw ethnic material of Pryor's short-lived television show led to a series of African-American sitcoms in the 1980s that presented common American experiences - from family life to college life - with black casts.
Mainstream entertainment has often co-opted and sanitized fringe amusements in an ongoing process of redefining the cultural center and its boundaries. Social control and respectability vied with the bold, erotic, sensational, and surprising, as entrepreneurs sought to manipulate the vagaries of the market, control shifting public appetites, and capitalize on campaigns to protect public morals. Rock 'n Roll was one such fringe culture; in the 1950s, Elvis blurred gender norms with his androgynous style and challenged conventions of public decency with his sexually-charged performances. By the end of the 1960s, Bob Dylan introduced the social consciousness of folk music into the rock scene, and The Beatles embraced hippie counter-culture. Don McLean's 1971 anthem "American Pie" served as an epitaph for rock's political core, which had been replaced by the spectacle of hard rock acts such as Kiss and Alice Cooper. While Rock 'n Roll did not lose its ability to shock, in less than three decades it became part of the established order that it had originally sought to challenge.
With Amusement for All provides the context to what Americans have done for fun since 1830, showing the reciprocal nature of the relationships between social, political, economic, and cultural forces and the way in which the entertainment world has reflected, refracted, or reinforced the values those forces represent in America.
The book is published by University Press of Kentucky.
©2012 The University Press of Kentucky (P)2013 Redwood AudiobooksListeners also enjoyed...
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American history was driven by clashes between those interested in preserving social order and those more interested in pursuing their own desires---the "respectable" versus the "degenerate", the moral versus the immoral. The more that "bad" people existed, resisted, and won, the greater was our common good. In A Renegade History of the United States, Russell introduces us to the origins of our nation's identity as we have never known them before.
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One of those books...that cause brain freeze!
- By Rory on 07-19-13
By: Thaddeus Russell
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Red Carpet
- Hollywood, China, and the Global Battle for Cultural Supremacy
- By: Erich Schwartzel
- Narrated by: Sean Patrick Hopkins
- Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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From trade to technology to military might, competition between the United States and China dominates the foreign policy landscape. But this battle for global influence is also playing out in a strange and unexpected arena: the movies. The film industry, Wall Street Journal reporter Erich Schwartzel explains, is the latest battleground in the tense and complex rivalry between these two world powers. In recent decades, as China has grown into a giant of the international economy, it has become a crucial source of revenue for the American film industry.
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Why modern cinema is a comic experience.
- By Pasternak on 03-11-22
By: Erich Schwartzel
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Seven Dirty Words
- The Life and Crimes of George Carlin
- By: James Sullivan
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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In Seven Dirty Words, journalist and cultural critic James Sullivan tells the story of Alternative America from the 1950s to the present, from the singular vantage point of George Carlin, the Catholic boy for whom nothing was sacred.
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Carlin's CV with no Depth or Insight
- By Dubi on 01-23-14
By: James Sullivan
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Uncommon People
- The Rise and Fall of The Rock Stars
- By: David Hepworth
- Narrated by: Matthew Lloyd Davies
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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The age of the rock star, like the age of the cowboy, has passed. Like the cowboy, the idea of the rock star lives on in our imaginations. What did we see in them? Swagger. Recklessness. Sexual charisma. Damn-the-torpedoes self-belief. A certain way of carrying themselves. Good hair. Interesting shoes. Talent we wished we had. What did we want of them? To be larger than life but also like us. To live out their songs. To stay young forever. No wonder many didn't stay the course.
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INSIGHTFULL!
- By CLAUDIA R KENNEDY on 02-18-18
By: David Hepworth
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We Were Feminists Once
- From Riot Grrrl to CoverGirl®, the Buying and Selling of a Political Movement
- By: Andi Zeisler
- Narrated by: Joell A. Jacob
- Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Today, feminism is no longer a dirty word, and women purporting to stand up for women's equality now include high-powered names like Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, and Emma Watson. Hip underwear lines sell granny pants with "feminist" emblazoned on the back. In every bookstore, there are scores of seductive feminist how-to business guides telling women how to achieve "it all".
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Fantastic book despite shoddy narration
- By Seth H. Wilson on 05-19-16
By: Andi Zeisler
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Alan Lomax: A Biography
- The Man Who Recorded the World
- By: John Szwed
- Narrated by: Scott Sowers
- Length: 20 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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The remarkable life and times of the man who popularized American folk music and created the science of song. Folklorist, archivist, anthropologist, singer, political activist, talent scout, ethnomusicologist, filmmaker, concert and record producer, Alan Lomax is best remembered as the man who introduced folk music to the masses. Lomax began his career making field recordings of rural music for the Library of Congress and by the late 1930s brought his discoveries to radio, including Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and Burl Ives.
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They Done Good
- By DonnaMarie113 on 06-26-22
By: John Szwed
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The Great Book of 1980s Trivia
- Crazy Random Facts & 80s Trivia (Trivia Bill's Nostalgic Trivia Books, Volume 1)
- By: Bill O'Neill
- Narrated by: Mike Alger
- Length: 4 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Take a fantastical journey through the 1980s as we uncover every riveting storyline that dominated the "decadent decade". Revisit, or explore for the first time, the big stories and the forgotten facts of 10 fast-paced years that would reshape the world and lay the foundation for the way we live today.
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The King of trivia is back.
- By cosmitron on 07-06-18
By: Bill O'Neill
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The Nineties
- A Book
- By: Chuck Klosterman
- Narrated by: Chuck Klosterman, Dion Graham
- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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It was long ago, but not as long as it seems: The Berlin Wall fell and the Twin Towers collapsed. In between, one presidential election was allegedly decided by Ross Perot while another was plausibly decided by Ralph Nader. Landlines fell to cell phones, the internet exploded, and pop culture accelerated without the aid of technology that remembered everything. It was the last era with a real mainstream to either identify with or oppose. The ’90s brought about a revolution in the human condition, and a shift in consciousness, that we’re still struggling to understand.
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A Very White Middle-class Take On The Nineties
- By Umar Lee on 02-10-22
By: Chuck Klosterman
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The Walrus and the Elephants
- John Lennon’s Years of Revolution
- By: James A. Mitchell
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 6 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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In late 1971 John Lennon left London behind and moved to New York, eager to join a youth movement rallying for social justice and an end to the Vietnam War. Lennon was quickly embraced by radicals and revolutionaries, the hippies and Yippies at odds with the establishment. Settling in Greenwich Village, the heart of Manhattan's counterculture, the former Beatle was soon on the frontlines of the antiwar movement and championing a range of causes and issues.
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I wish you were still here
- By Kazuhiko on 12-09-13
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1959
- The Year Everything Changed
- By: Fred Kaplan
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 10 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Acclaimed national security columnist and noted cultural critic Fred Kaplan looks past the 1960s to the year that really changed AmericaWhile conventional accounts focus on the 60s as the era of pivotal change that swept the nation, Fred Kaplan argues that it was 1959 that ushered in the wave of tremendous cultural, political, and scientific shifts that would play out in the decades that followed.
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Facinating look at a neglected moment in history
- By James on 05-25-11
By: Fred Kaplan
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Age of Cage
- Four Decades of Hollywood Through One Singular Career
- By: Keith Phipps
- Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Nicolas Cage is many things, but love him, or laugh at him, there's no denying two things: You've seen one of his many films, and you certainly know his name. But who is he, really, and why has his career endured for over 40 years, with more than a hundred films, and birthed a million memes? Age of Cage is a smart, beguiling book about the films of Nicolas Cage and the actor himself, as well as a sharp-eyed examination of the changes that have taken place in Hollywood over the course of his career.
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Excellent filmography of a successful career
- By Pamela Plimpton on 04-04-22
By: Keith Phipps
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Here We Are Now
- The Lasting Impact of Kurt Cobain
- By: Charles R. Cross
- Narrated by: Lloyd James
- Length: 4 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Simply stated, Kurt Cobain changed the cultural conversation in his all-too-brief life, and even after his shattering death. With interviews and commentary from all corners of the pop culture universe, from the people who knew Cobain to those who continue to help his legend grow, Here We Are Now explores what a singular life meant, and how that meaning can be measured, when and if it can be.
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An amazing afterword on culture post Cobain
- By Rebecca F. on 06-11-15
By: Charles R. Cross
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Can't Stop Won't Stop
- A History of the Hip-Hop Generation
- By: Jeff Chang
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 19 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Forged in the fires of the Bronx and Kingston, Jamaica, hip-hop became the Esperanto of youth rebellion and a generation-defining movement. In a post-civil rights era defined by deindustrialization and globalization, hip-hop crystallized a multiracial, polycultural generation's worldview and transformed American politics and culture. But that epic story has never been told with this kind of breadth, insight, and style.
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Not About Hip Hop Music
- By A. Yerkes on 09-06-19
By: Jeff Chang
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Superman Versus the Ku Klux Klan
- The True Story of How the Iconic Superhero Battled the Men of Hate
- By: Rick Bowers
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 3 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Journalist Rick Bowers has contributed to Time, The Washington Post, and USA Today, and his fascinating Spies of Mississippi—about the spy network that tried to take down the Civil Rights Movement—earned a starred review from Booklist. Here, Bowers examines how, in the late 1940s, The Adventures of Superman radio show struck a powerful blow to the Ku Klux Klan when Superman aired episodes pitting the hero against the Klan in an effort to teach young listeners to stand up to bigotry.
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The willingness to visit the truth
- By David Alexander McDonald on 03-13-24
By: Rick Bowers
What listeners say about With Amusement for All
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Aaron
- 08-07-13
Excellent
Would you consider the audio edition of With Amusement for All to be better than the print version?
Best to have both
What did you like best about this story?
Transportive strangeness of "old weird America"
What do you think the narrator could have done better?
His voice and performance are just fine
If you could give With Amusement for All a new subtitle, what would it be?
....
Any additional comments?
....
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3 people found this helpful
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- John
- 09-12-23
Masterpiece
I return to this book every few years. Its exhaustive survey of popular culture is a perfect window into US history. A great read/listen for everyone from students to writers.
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- Jeremy Hogan
- 02-19-18
Extremely narrow
doesn't cover many topics and goes on for 9 hours on the horror of anything from the last 40 years. everything is "corporate america" and how it ruined the world. nothing is called positive or favorable to the masses.
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1 person found this helpful
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- LH
- 08-07-14
The file is too large
Any additional comments?
The book is fine, the file is too large to deal with on my mp3. Have not tried to listen on my computer or other device, but I listen to audio books in the car not at home.
Please break this book up into 4-5 sections.
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- Steven Gerweck
- 06-07-24
Well researched, full of information
If you have ever wondered what people did for entertainment in the past, this is the book for you. LeRoy Ashby demonstrates how social, political, and cultural shifts impacted the way we viewed entertainment. Billy Joel's song "We didn't start the fire" is a brief time capsule through history and pop culture, but "With Amusement for All" is the definitive history on almost two centuries on the topic.
As noted, audiences once clamored to black face performances and heavily relied on newspapers for news and to be entertained. The marketing genius PT Barnum utilized a variety of acts and sideshows to fascinate the masses. Barnum's star attractions including a woman he claimed was 160 years old, and nursed George Washington, bearded women, midgets, and other human oddities.
Topic included, but certainly not limited to:
- Composer Stephen Foster
- Wild west shows
- Dime novels
- Bare knuckle boxing headlined by John L. Sullivan, and later prize fighting
- Baseball, with fans interested in statistics, later infatuated by the long ball and Babe Ruth
- The invention of basketball, football
- Burlesque, Vaudeville
- Recorded music, motion pictures
- The Tramp and Harry Houdini
- The birth of Jazz
- The emergence of radio, and radio shows such as Amos 'n' Andy and Burns and Allen
- Amusement parks, fairgrounds, and the circus
- The explosion of comic books, and later comic bookstores
- Pop culture boasting morale of the nation during the second World War
- Walt Disney, John Wayne
- The TV boom of the 1950's, and cable TV in the 80's
- Playboy, Marilyn Monroe
- Elvis Presley, and rock 'n' roll music featuring the Beatles and The Rolling Stones
- 007, Saturday Night Live, MTV, HBO, ESPN, VCRs
- All in the family, sitcom mania
- Disco, punk rock, hip hop, rap
- Star Wars, ET
- Reality shows, talk shows on radio, Fox News
Ashby has all the bases covered, and Kevin Pierce provides captivating narration.
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- Paul
- 11-28-13
So Much Fun!
An amazing overview! Well put together with great narration that kept me listening even after I was done driving. I love books like this that give you history in a context that you may not consider.
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7 people found this helpful
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- Paul
- 02-19-14
..Lacks Character.
Is there anything you would change about this book?
The book is read like an infomercial. That could be changed, but I am not offering to do that.
Would you ever listen to anything by LeRoy Ashby again?
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How did the narrator detract from the book?
Shallow salesmen ship tonalities.
If this book were a movie would you go see it?
Maybe, depends on the director. I had hoped for decent content, but it was unreadable/'unlistenable'.
Any additional comments?
...as a disclaimer I did not listen to the entire book.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Hayli May
- 04-07-17
It's a thourough and well-reswarched history
Ultimately, however, it can be quite dry. I would recommend it for people interested in a dense and comprehensive history chiefly of media forms. It covers the larger popular culture from circuses and tin pan alley to MTV and Hollywood. It weaves in social and political themes effortlessly, as well. though I enjoyed the listen, it would've taken me much more effort and time to have read the print copy on my shelf.
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- Lila Fowler
- 11-11-16
Lots of country music, news and comic book info.
It's not a bad book. I'll admit that I skipped a lot of the 1800's. But the early 1900's were interesting. However it really got botched around the 80's and 90's. First of all, they seemed really wedged in at the end. The author didn't seem to really get those eras. MTV was barely mentioned, nor was the influx of teen movies, music or TV shows. Most of the things talked about for the 80's were for the older generations. He spends a great deal of time talking about talk shows, and radio. And a ton on country music. And comics. Lots of talk about comics.
Oddly enough, he mentions horror in the 90's but not the 80's where they had a huge resurgence. He calls Silence of the Lambs a "slasher" movie. Shows like Seinfeld, 90210 and Friends were not even mentioned. Instead, he talked about who owned with news station. Which, IMO, isn't really pop culture.
The narration wasn't bad. There were a few times sentences were repeated, and a few mispronounced words.
Probably better suited for listeners at least in their 50's.
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- Sarah
- 05-09-17
Interesting Info, Poor Narration
There was a lot of interesting info about the history of amusement in America and the related sociological implications. Sports, theater, film, Television, and video games, etc. were covered. Unfortunately, the narrator was unsatisfactory. Aside from the annoying mispronunciations and outright errors, he was stiff and unconvincing, not seeming to get the material he was reading. The overall quality of the narration was so disappointing that it basically ruined the book for me.
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