A Brief History of American Sports (Paperback)

by Elliott J. Gorn (Author) "American children during the 1950s played with Hula Hoops, those plastic rings about three feet in diameter that circled around your hips if you gyrated..." (more)
Key Phrases: bachelor subculture, traditional recreations, amateur ideal, New York, Library of Congress, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
The authors should have entitled their book A Brief Cultural History of American Sports. Gorn (Miami Univ. of Ohio) and Goldstein (SUNY-Old Westbury), both American studies professors, give a cultural overview of the way sports affect American society and how American society in turn shapes organized sports. One of the author's themes is that most sporting events evolved as social displays emphasizing white male domination and power, with violence, racial bias, sexism, and elitism as natural outgrowths. The text asserts that commercialization has corrupted sports, affected the educational system, and severely damaged the ideal of amateurism. Benjamin Rader's American Sports ( LJ 4/1/83) is a better history, but Gorn and Goldstein offer a rich source of discussion topics for American studies, sociology, or sports history classes.
- Terry Madden, Boise State Univ. Lib., Id.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
"We have for too long ignored the critical importance of sports in our continuing national narrative, seeking meaning only in the increasingly stale arena of the state (and its wars and generals and 'great men'). With A Brief History of American Sports, Elliott J. Gorn and Warren Goldstein remind us that the very serious world of play provides a precise mirror of American life and aspiration, a deep, at times painful, but always abiding portrait of who we are." -- Ken Burns, documentary film director, and co-author of Baseball: An Illustrated History "If history were baseball, Gorn and Goldstein would get credit for a triple play: they have skillfully and imaginatively integrated sports into the framework of American culture and society, produced a pioneering work which should have enduring influence, and given us a scholarly history which is delightful to read. It's a terrific book in every way." -- Lawrence W. Levine, University of California at Berkeley

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press (February 16, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0252071840
• ISBN-13: 978-0252071843
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: No customer reviews yet. Be the first.
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #648,152 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)