Book cover of Dancing In The Streets: A History Of Collective Joy

Book description

In Dancing in the Streets Ehrenreich uncovers the origins of communal celebration in human biology and culture. She discovers that the same elements come up in every human culture throughout history: a love of masking, carnival, music-making and dance. Although sixteenth-century Europeans began to view mass festivities as foreign and…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Dancing In The Streets as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I have always felt that parties sometimes feel more than parties, that there is something unruly and magical in a group of people coming together. Ehrenreich’s book gave me a longer view of the history and potential of what she calls “collective joy”—its political, social, and spiritual power.

Ehrenreich is a kind and accessible writer and covers a broad range of topics and geographies in the history of “parties.” 

From Simon's list on overthink and cry at the club with.

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