The evangelist and the impresario
Subtitle: religion, entertainment, and cultural politics in America, 1884-1914
By: Kathryn J. Oberdeck.
Series: New studies in American intellectual and cultural history
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
Published: 1999
Place of publication: Baltimore
Language: eng
Number of pages: 429
Subjects: Irvine, Alexander, 1863-1941.; Poli, Sylvester.; Religion and culture -- United States -- History.; Politics and culture -- United States -- History.; Working class -- United States -- History.; Evangelistic work -- Social aspects -- Connecticut -- New Haven -- History.; Vaudeville -- Social aspects -- Connecticut -- New Haven -- History.; United States -- Intellectual life -- 1865-1918.; New Haven (Conn.) -- Intellectual life.
Description: What is culture and who has the authority to define it? If culture is composed of hierarchies, who determines what their standards should be, and how? What are the stakes involved in conceiving some forms of culture as good and others as bad? These may sound like questions from late twentieth-century American culture wars, but they were already in vigorous dispute a century ago.

In The Evangelist and the Impresario, Kathryn Oberdeck explores how a broad range of Americans addressed these questions at the vibrant intersection of religion, vaudeville, and class politics at the turn of the twentieth century. The Evangelist and the Impresario focuses on the intriguing careers of two remarkable public figures: Irish-born socialist Alexander Irvine and Italian-American entertainment mogul Sylvester Poli.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [403]-420) and index.