On Holiday: A History of Vacationing (California Studies in Critical Human Geography) [Hardcover]

Orvar Löfgren (Author)

Book Description

Series: California Studies in Critical Human Geography | Publication Date: October 27, 1999

Löfgren takes us on a tour of the Western holiday world and shows how two centuries of "learning to be a tourist" have shaped our own ways of vacationing. We see how fashions in destinations have changed through the years, with popular images (written, drawn, painted, and later photographed) teaching the tourist what to look for and how to experience it. Travelers present and future will never see their cruises, treks, ecotours, round-the-world journeys, or trips to the vacation cottage or condo in quite the same way again. All our land-, sea-, and mindscapes will be the richer for Löfgren's insights.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Lofgren, a professor of European enthology in Sweden, has written several books (i.e., Culture Builders: A Historical Anthropology of Middle-Class Life). Here he uses concepts and ideas from various social science disciplines, as well as frequent literary examples, to explore the history of tourism in the United States and Europe. He notes the inherent tensions in tourism: the desire to see everything v. the desire to get away from it all, the local v. the global, and the quest for novelty despite the commodification of tourism. He uses examples like vacation cottages, bus tours, the idea of "the beach," and souvenirs to make his arguments. The most interesting parts, however, are those that touch upon issues such as gender, morality, and class. Although the text occasionally wanders, overall it is interesting and well researched. Recommended for social science and social history collections.AKathleen A. Shanahan, Kensington, MD
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"...a treatment of our collective annual fortnight away as a strange and fascinating parallel reality that runs year-round." -- National Post (Canadian daily

"Excellent . . . not just a valuable addition to the shelves of students of tourism but also an enjoyable and accessible read." -- John Ghazvinian, The Nation

"Lofgren's decision to take our daydreams seriously, and to note how we try to translate them into reality . . . is fruitful." -- Times Literary Supplement

"Offers . . . histories of sight-seeing, walking, driving, cottage life, landscapes, postcards, getaways, nostalgias, and . . . the sun-starved northern Europeans for the South." -- James Clifford in Lingua Franca Book

"On Holiday is one of the most enjoyable books on travel published in recent years." -- O. Pi-Sunyer, Choice

"Some of the information he presents is amazing." -- Charlotte Observer

"Students of culture, emotions, industry, modernity, and transnationalism will profit and take pleasure from embarking 'On Holiday' with Orvar Lofgren." -- Christine Skwiot, Enterprise and Society

"[A] treatment of our collective annual fortnight away as a strange and fascinating parallel reality that runs year-round." -- National Post

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 334 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (October 27, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520217675
• ISBN-13: 978-0520217676
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,314,915 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Making it Last..., September 1, 2000

By 

Jonathan Schroeder (Providence, RI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: On Holiday: A History of Vacationing (California Studies in Critical Human Geography) (Hardcover)

There is an old advertisement promoting a California vacation that informs us that `Life is Better in California'! Orvar Löfgren has written a book that both celebrates and critically assesses such statements, in a compelling blend of scholarly insight, historical research, and personal narrative. On Holiday: A History of Vacationing is a rare work that makes for enjoyable reading in the office-or on the beach. Löfgren, who teaches at the University of Lund in Sweden, combines his personal expertise and interests with a rigorous eye for detail to build a fascinating account of tourism as an industry as well as the personal experience of vacationing. He adroitly balances insights from his native land of Sweden, the United States, and the rest of Europe with his research on tourism as a global industry. His book covers tourism as well as travel, images, brand names, destination marketing and relates them to social movements, such as labor, leisure, and lifestyle. A well-researched collection of illustrations and photographs add to the book's appeal.

On Holiday's themes revolve around issues of work vs. leisure, labor vs. rest, home vs. away; tourist vs. host-yet its strength lies in focusing on the everyday life of vacations rather than attempting to build a grand theory of leisure. Löfgren builds from his own history of vacationing-without being esoteric or idiosyncratic-in developing a way of thinking about tourism that is useful for marketing scholars. He shows how the industry influenced and was affected by broad cultural patterns. His work suggests that tourism-and how consumers experience vacations-is central to understanding the global economy.

Readers will find this book much like a good vacation-a chance to reflect, meet new people, getaway from the usual, and wind up refreshed with new interests and directions. For much like a well developed research program, "a strange and often insatiable longing for transcendence gives tourism an element of secular religion, a quest for fulfillment waiting out there somewhere-in the elsewherelands" (p. 282).