eBook

The thrill makers

Smith, Jacob

2012

Overview

Well before Evel Knievel or Hollywood stuntmen, reality television or the X Games, North America had a long tradition of stunt performance, of men (and some women) who sought media attention and popular fame with public feats of daring. Many of these feats—jumping off bridges, climbing steeples and buildings, swimming incredible distances, or doing tricks with wild animals—had their basis in the manual trades or in older entertainments like the circus. In The Thrill Makers, Jacob Smith shows how turn-of-the-century bridge jumpers, human flies, lion tamers, and stunt pilots first drew crowds to their spectacular displays of death-defying action before becoming a crucial, yet often invisible, component of Hollywood film stardom. Smith explains how these working-class stunt performers helped shape definitions of American manhood, and pioneered a form of modern media celebrity that now occupies an increasingly prominent place in our contemporary popular culture.

• Publisher: University of California Press
• Subject: adrenaline junkies / adrenaline lovers / base jumping / books about daring stunts / books for young adults / Celebrity / Daredevils / Daredevils - United States - History / death defying stunts explained / discussion books / easy to read / engaging / evel knievel / fun books to read / HISTORY / HISTORY / United States / General / history of stunts / hollywood / how to be a stunt double / how to do a trick / incredible humans / learning from experts / leisure reads / Masculinity / Masculinity in motion pictures / Masculinity in popular culture / page turner / Performers / PERFORMING ARTS / Film & Video / General / Popular culture / quarantine books / sky diving / start of media / stunt double history / Stunt performers / Stunt performers -- United States -- History / stunt pilots / thrill makers / U.S.A / United States / vacation reads / x games
• ISBN: 9780520270893, 0520270886, 9780520270886, 0520270894, 9780520952362, 0520952367