{"product_id":"melodramatic-landscapes-heath-schenker-9780813928425","title":"Melodramatic Landscapes: Urban Parks in the Nineteenth Century","description":"\u003cp\u003eDuring the nineteenth century, large, naturalistic urban parks began to appear in cities around the world. These parks, as \u003ci\u003eMelodramatic Landscapes \u003c\/i\u003eengagingly demonstrates, offered the opportunity for visitors to assert their social status in performances suited to the theatrical age in which they flourished. How and why did prototypical park landscapes-- characterized by groves of trees, expanses of mowed meadow, man-made lakes artfully designed to emulate their natural counterparts, and meandering paths-- become the norm in the midst of modernizing industrial cities?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFocusing on iconic parks in Paris, New York, and Mexico City, Heath Schenker explores the cultural and social meanings embedded in these elaborate stage sets. Schenker teases out the goals and ambitions of park proponents and describes the singular ways in which the public received and used the parks in each city. The book showcases some of the trademark features of these parks, ranging from the soaring, rocky cliffs of Buttes-Chaumont in Paris to the mythic Aztec springs of Chapultepec Park in Mexico City to the secluded Dairy in Central Park.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDrawing on a wealth of historical sources, including original plans and drawings, descriptions in guidebooks, newspaper articles, and even representations in novels, Schenker reveals how civic leaders adapted the park ideal to serve their particular political, social, and economic agendas. The narrative boasts a number of first-person accounts by nineteenth-century visitors, populating the picturesque scenery with a lively cast of characters worthy of the age of melodrama.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Heath Schenker\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0813928427\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780813928425\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Virginia Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 12\/11\/2009\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 248\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.25lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.52h x 6.64w x 0.86d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChronicle of Higher Education\u003c\/i\u003e 01\/15\/2010 pg. 19\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eScitech Book News\u003c\/i\u003e 06\/01\/2010 pg. 127","brand":"Heath Schenker","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":43926415573247,"sku":"9780813928425","price":38.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/products\/img_75961dae-cc05-4c6d-8169-ff1bdefe01cd.jpg?v=1681082961","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/melodramatic-landscapes-heath-schenker-9780813928425","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}