Vaudeville and the Making of Modern Entertainment, 1890–1925 Monod Hardback

Vaudeville and the Making of Modern Entertainment, 1890-1925Author(s): David Monod\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: The University of North Carolina Press, United States\nImprint: The University of North Carolina Press\nISBN-13: 9781469660547, 978-1469660547\nSynopsis\nToday, vaudeville is imagined as a parade of slapstick comedians, blackface shouters, coyly revealed knees, and second-rate acrobats. But vaudeville was also America's most popular commercial amusement from the mid-1890s to the First World War; at its peak, 5 million Americans attended vaudeville shows every week. Telling the story of this pioneering art form's rise and decline, David Monod looks through the apparent carnival of vaudeville performance and asks: what made the theater so popular and transformative? Although he acknowledges its quirkiness, Monod makes the case that vaudeville became so popular because it offered audiences a guide to a modern urban lifestyle. \n\nVaudeville acts celebrated sharp city styles a.