Going Out: The Rise and Fall of Public Amusements by David Nasaw describes many different types of public activities during the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries and further discusses the effects of amusement on the economy and society as a whole. The author covers various forms of fun-time activities from museums to world fairs. Each chapter of Nasaw's book portrays a different amusement and gives an in-depth perspective from several different points of view. Nasaw writes of how people of the lower class to the upper class spend their leisure time. The amusements effect on society is also examined by describing how it continued racial segregation, but also how it helped incorporate European immigrants into the American culture.
David Nasaw's story was primarily surrounded by the amusements of two significant cities, Chicago and New York. Although New York and Chicago are two of the most populated and more advanced cities, all urban areas of this time cannot be presumed to support the same forms of amusement that two of the largest cities in America have at the time.
An African-American child at a segregated drinking...
Pie chart of religions of African Americans
For nasawThe author uses a number of primary and secondary sources. The primary sources are used to discuss specific events and provide a real-time account of amusement life in this era. Nasaw uses his secondary sources to support his argument. Having a single chapter devoted to a certain form of amusement allows the author to go into great detail about each giving specific details of both the lower and upper class and their encounters with different forms of amusement that each attended.
The historical essence of the book is very appealing as well as the writing style. The style is not extremely difficult which limits the audience to a more educated group of people. The style also allows the author to transition...