{"product_id":"an-actors-tale-theater-culture-and-everyday-life-in-the-nineteenth-century-united-states-paperback","title":"An Actor's Tale: Theater, Culture, and Everyday Life in the Nineteenth-Century United States - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eAmy E. Hughes\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003eAmy Hughes\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHarry Watkins was no one special. During a career that spanned four decades, this nineteenth-century actor yearned for fame but merely skirted the edges of it. He performed alongside the brightest stars, wrote scores of plays, and toured the United States and England, but he never became a household name. Inspired by this average performer's life and labor, \u003ci\u003e An Actor's Tale\u003c\/i\u003e offers an alternative history of nineteenth-century theater, focusing on the daily rhythms and routines of theatrical life rather than the celebrated people, plays, and exceptional events that tend to dominate histories of US theater and performance. In the process, Hughes asks uncomfortable questions about the existence, predominance, and erasure of White male mediocrity in US culture, both in the past and present. When historians focus only on performers and plays with artistic \"merit,\" what communities, perspectives, and cultural trends remain invisible? How did men like Watkins advance themselves professionally, despite their mediocrity? Why did men like Watkins embrace and perpetuate myths like the American Dream, the \"self-made man,\" and meritocracy, and how have these ideals shaped casting, producing, and celebrity worship in today's US entertainment industry? \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Ultimately, Hughes reveals how this actor's tale illuminates the widespread tendency to ignore, deny, and forgive White male mediocrity in US culture, and how a deeper understanding of people like Watkins can transform our understanding of the past--and our understanding of ourselves. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAmy E. Hughes\u003c\/b\u003e is Professor of Theatre \u0026amp; Drama at the University of Michigan. She is the author of \u003ci\u003eSpectacles of Reform: Theater and Activism in Nineteenth-Century America \u003c\/i\u003e(2012) and co-editor of \u003ci\u003eA Player and a Gentleman: The Diary of Harry Watkins, Nineteenth-Century U.S. American Actor \u003c\/i\u003e(2018).\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 246\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.64 x 8.99 x 5.99 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e September 24, 2025\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48631958012153,"sku":"9780472057689","price":71.91,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0789\/2782\/3097\/files\/IUfYEPbjiM9780472057689.webp?v=1783123942","url":"https:\/\/bookscloud.io\/products\/an-actors-tale-theater-culture-and-everyday-life-in-the-nineteenth-century-united-states-paperback","provider":"BooksCloud Book Dropshipping","version":"1.0","type":"link"}