magiadoreal

The key to this spirited and challenging book is in its subtitle: “joyous revolt.” The revolt depicted in “American Fun” derives from John Beckman’s somewhat narrow definition of what constitutes fun. For his purposes, it requires active, spontaneous and unscripted participation, not passive amusement or entertainment contrived by the vaudeville circuit’s B. F. Keith or by Walt Disney. Fun, Beckman asserts, is something to be had; it comes from the people; it is had by a group; it is risky; and it has a purpose. Adopting an unusual interpretation of American history, Beckman, a professor of English at the United States Naval Academy, explores the ways outlaw, oppressed and otherwise defiant groups reacted to their condition by creating and celebrating acts of raucous jubilation that represented quests for freedom. Both politically directed and self-rewarding, these rebellions, he says, had a peculiarly American tinge because they not only promoted their own brand of civility but als...