A Coney Island reader
Subtitle: through dizzy gates of illusion
By: edited by Louis J. Parascandola and John Parascandola
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: 2015
Language: eng
Number of pages: 333
ISBN-13: 9780231165723; 9780231165730
Subjects: Amusement parks; Literary collections; History
Description: Featuring a stunning gallery of portraits by the world's finest poets, essayists, and fiction writers - including Walt Whitman, Stephen Crane, José Martí, Maxim Gorky, and Katie Roiphe - this anthology focusses on the unique history and transporting experience of a beloved fixture of the New York City landscape. It captures the highs and lows of the place, with works that picture it as a restful resort, a playground for the masses and a symbol of America's democratic spirit, as well as a Sodom by the sea, a garish display of capitalist excess and a paradigm of urban decay.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.
Table of contents: title: The Beginnings Through 1896; title: The Era of the Three Great Amusement Parks, 1897-1911; title: The Nickel Empire: Coney in Transition, 1912-1948; title: The Years of Decline and the Hope of Rebirth, 1949 to the Present.