The Tourist

by Dean MacCannell

Book Overview

In this classic analysis of travel and sightseeing, author Dean MacCannell brings social scientific understandings to bear on tourism in the postindustrial age, during which the middle class has... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0520218922
• ISBN13: 9780520218925
• Release Date: March 1999
• Publisher: University of California Press
• Length: 277 Pages
• Weight: 0.72 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

One of the more accessible books on the topic

What I liked about MacCannell's book was how easy it was to read- now, granted, I was forced to plow through this in a week, so I didn't get to savor it- but I really felt like I understood far more than I usually do- like the book had enough of substance to say that it wasn't necessary to obscure the ideas with jargon.It seemed like in many ways this was a rebuttal to Daniel Boorstin's "The Image: A Guide to Pseudo Events in America" , which presents a fairly elitist distinction between traveller and tourist. MacCannell expressely mentions Boorstin's ideas and decries them as being counterproductive- that we'd all like to elevate ourselves above the majority, but are mostly deceiving ourselves that this distinction is true.Also, some very interesting stuff in here about how a sight is established- how it is marked- the interplay of markers and signs. His work on Staged Authenticity is also quite compelling- the idea of Front, Back, and Reality- spaces where everyone can go, restricted spaces that are still modified knowing outsiders will pass through, and spaces that are authentic. His examples involving Paris are especially interesting. I'd recommend checking out this AND the Boorstin.