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Title: Seeking Pleasure in the Old West by David Dary, Dary David ISBN: 0-7006-0828-1 Publisher: Univ Pr of Kansas Pub. Date: March, 1997 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 (2 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A real bargain!
Comment: There's a LOT--and I mean a LOT--of content here for the price! Mr. Dary has managed to cover a surprisingly broad range of Old West life far beyond what you could ever imagine from movies, TV, or novels--or even other books on this same topic. Full of black-and-white photos, although it reads a bit academic in style. If your purpose is research, the price for this book is money well-spent. You won't be disappointed.
Rating: 4
Summary: An entertaining and enlightening look at our ancestors.
Comment: (Note: This review was written for the hard-back edition of the book.) March 28, 1999
A must read for anyone interested in learning about how our nineteenth century ancestors living on the American frontier sought to bring pleasure into their lives. The book's strongest point however, is also its weakest, as Dary attempts to address the entire spectrum of frontier society but, unfortunately, falls short. He fails to mention some of the so-called "fringe" elements of society that existed on the frontier long before the arrival of the waves of settlers from the east. Although there are entire chapters on the early explorers, mountain men, and Indians, little, if any, mention is made of the French-Indian mixed-blood settlements that already existed along the Missouri River and its tributaries such as the Kansas River. He also fails to address the pleasures sought by the black populace that started spreading westward after the Civil War. There is also only brief mention of the Chinese population that helped build the railroads and were present in just about every frontier town.
Despite these shortcomings, Dary's descriptions of pioneer life are fascinating. The simple things that bought pleasure to our ancestors are difficult for our modern society to understand. Perhaps Dary's most salient point is saved until the very end when he stresses how the pioneers created their own entertainment that almost always required active participation on their part and which usually involved the participation of others. He contrasts that with our society in which "pleasure providers" tell us what is pleasurable and what isn't. He then leaves it to the reader's discretion whether these changes are for the better or worse.
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Title: Everyday Life in the 1800s: A Guide for Writers, Students & Historians by Marc McCutcheon ISBN: 1582970637 Publisher: Writers Digest Books Pub. Date: March, 2001 List Price(USD): $16.99 |
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Title: The Expansion of Everyday Life, 1860-1876 by Daniel E. Sutherland ISBN: 1557285969 Publisher: Univ of Arkansas Pr Pub. Date: April, 2000 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Western Words: A Dictionary of the Old West by Ramon Adams ISBN: 0781805902 Publisher: Hippocrene Books Pub. Date: November, 1997 List Price(USD): $11.95 |
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Title: The Good Old Days--They Were Terrible! by Otto Bettmann ISBN: 0394709411 Publisher: Random House Pub. Date: 12 October, 1974 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: Cowboy Lingo by Ramon F. Adams ISBN: 0618083499 Publisher: Mariner Books Pub. Date: 20 November, 2000 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
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