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Author Harrington-Lueker, Donna, author.

Title Books for idle hours : nineteenth-century publishing and the rise of summer reading / Donna Harrington-Lueker.

Publication Info. Amherst : University of Massachusetts Press, [2019]

Copies

Location Call No. Status
 Windsor Locks Public Library - Adult Department  028.909 HAR    Check Shelf
Description xiv, 229 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.
Series Studies in print culture and the history of the book
Studies in print culture and the history of the book.
Summary "The publishing phenomenon of summer reading, often focused on novels set in vacation destinations, started in the nineteenth century, as both print culture and tourist culture expanded in the United States. As an emerging middle class increasingly embraced summer leisure as a marker of social status, book publishers sought new market opportunities, authors discovered a growing readership, and more readers indulged in lighter fare. Drawing on publishing records, book reviews, readers' diaries, and popular novels of the period, Donna Harrington-Lueker explores the beginning of summer reading and the backlash against it. Countering fears about the dangers of leisurely reading--especially for young women--publishers framed summer reading not as a disreputable habit but as a respectable pastime and welcome respite. Books for Idle Hours sheds new light on an ongoing seasonal publishing tradition"-- Provided by publisher.
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents Nineteenth-century travel, tourism, and summer leisure -- 'As welcome and grateful as the girls in muslin': nineteenth-century periodicals and the marketing of summer reading -- Society and saturnalia: the cultural work of the American summer novel -- 'Hurrying. . . forward for the summer trade': William Dean Howells's dialogue with the popular summer novel -- 'This is why I do not board': the role of place and space in Victorian summer reading -- Chautauqua assemblies, summer schools, and Catholic Reading circles: the case for serious summer reading -- Changing times, persistent practices.
Subject Books and reading -- United States -- History -- 19th century.
Publishers and publishing -- United States -- History -- 19th century.
Leisure -- United States -- History -- 19th century.
Tourism -- United States -- History -- 19th century.
Summer in literature.
Tourism in literature.
Books and reading. (OCoLC)fst00836454
Leisure. (OCoLC)fst00996018
Publishers and publishing. (OCoLC)fst01083463
Summer in literature. (OCoLC)fst01138521
Tourism. (OCoLC)fst01153142
Tourism in literature. (OCoLC)fst01904958
United States. (OCoLC)fst01204155
Chronological Term 1800-1899
Genre/Form History. (OCoLC)fst01411628
Other Form: Online version: Harrington-Lueker, Donna, author. Books for idle hours Amherst : University of Massachusetts Press, [2019] 9781613766309 (DLC) 2018043654
ISBN 9781625343833 (paperback)
1625343833 (paperback)
9781625343826 (hardcover)
1625343825 (hardcover)
Standard No. 40028805799
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