{"product_id":"a-sawdust-heart-henry-wood-9780816672301","title":"A Sawdust Heart: My Vaudeville Life in Medicine and Tent Shows","description":"In the early twentieth century, before radio and motion pictures became widespread, rural Americans had few options for entertainment. While vaudeville theaters were prominent and popular in the cities, they were scarce in rural and small-town America, which was hungry for both diversion and news from the rest of the world. It was here that the traveling show thrived.\u003cbr\u003eLeaving his hometown of Viroqua, Wisconsin, to travel with a medicine show, twelve-year-old Henry Wood became hooked on show business. He joined a traveling theater troupe, and leading lady Clarabelle Fendell helped the boy become \"Jack,\" a gentleman and vaudeville performer, so transformed that he was barely recognized by his own mother when he returned home. \u003cbr\u003eWood spent the years 1910-1941 in traveling medicine and tent shows that featured a variety of vaudeville acts, from skits to full-length dramatic plays. Whether recalling his experiences skydiving from hot-air balloons, serving in the air force, or being accosted by angry theatergoers unable to distinguish him from the villains he portrayed on stage, Wood's story paints a lively and vivid picture. \u003cbr\u003eWhile most books on this period of American theater history focus on major names in vaudeville and the entertainment industry, \u003ci\u003eA Sawdust Heart\u003c\/i\u003e shows what it was like for the real show-business workers and the performers who never made it big but eked out a living doing what they loved on minor stages across America. \u003cbr\u003eIntroduced by Wood's grandson-in-law Michael Fedo with a concise history of these traveling shows, \u003ci\u003eA Sawdust Heart\u003c\/i\u003e is an amusing read for anyone interested in early-twentieth-century rural America.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Henry Wood\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 081667230X\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780816672301\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Minnesota Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/28\/2011\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 144\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.48lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 7.90h x 5.40w x 0.60d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eReference and Research Bk News\u003c\/i\u003e 06\/01\/2011 pg. 187","brand":"Henry Wood","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48086950576383,"sku":"9780816672301","price":16.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_49ddd497-1993-4501-b870-ac051ac12590.jpg?v=1769097434","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/a-sawdust-heart-henry-wood-9780816672301","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}