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Author Rubin, Rachel, 1964-

Title Well met : Renaissance faires and the American counterculture / Rachel Lee Rubin.

Publication Info. New York : New York University Press, [2012]
©2012

Copies

Location Call No. Status
 New Britain, Main Library - Non Fiction  394.6 R82    Check Shelf
Description xiii, 346 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 313-331) and index.
Contents "Welcome to the sixties!" -- Artisans of the realm : crafters at the faire -- Shakespeare, he's in the alley : performing at the faire -- "A place to be out" : playing at the faire -- Every day is gay day, here : hating the faire -- Hard day's knight : faire fictions.
Summary "The Renaissance Faire--a 50 year-long party, communal ritual, political challenge and cultural wellspring--receives its first sustained historical attention with Well Met. Beginning with the chaotic communal moment of its founding and early development in the 1960s through its incorporation as a major 'family friendly' leisure site in the 2000s, Well Met tells the story of the thinkers, artists, clowns, mimes, and others performers who make the Faire. Well Met approaches the Faire from the perspective of labor, education, aesthetics, business, the opposition it faced, and the key figures involved. Drawing upon vibrant interview material and deep archival research, Rachel Lee Rubin reveals the way the faires established themselves as a pioneering and highly visible counter cultural referendum on how we live now--our family and sexual arrangements, our relationship to consumer goods, and our corporate entertainments. In order to understand the meaning of the faire to its devoted participants, both workers and visitors, Rubin has compiled a dazzling array of testimony, from extensive conversations with Faire founder Phyllis Patterson to interviews regarding the contemporary scene with performers, crafters, booth workers and 'playtrons.' Well Met pays equal attention what came out of the faire--the transforming gifts bestowed by the faire's innovations and experiments upon the broader American culture: the underground press of the 1960s and 1970s, experimentation with 'ethnic' musical instruments and styles in popular music, the craft revival, and various forms of immersive theater are all connected back to their roots in the faire. Original, intrepid, and richly illustrated, Well Met puts the Renaissance Faire back at the historical center of the American counterculture"--Provided by publisher.
Subject Renaissance fairs -- United States -- History -- 20th century.
Counterculture -- United States -- History -- 20th century.
Added Title Renaissance faires and the American counterculture
Other Form: Online version: Rubin, Rachel. Well met. New York ; London : New York University Press, c2012 9780814738108 (OCoLC)820335482
ISBN 9780814771389 cloth alkaline paper
0814771386 cloth alkaline paper
9780814738108 (ebook)
0814738109 (ebook)
9780814763858 (ebook)
0814763855 (ebook)
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