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Clambake: A History and Celebration of an American Tradition (Publications of the American Folklore Society)

Clambake: A History and Celebration of an American Tradition (Publications of the American Folklore Society)

List Price: $19.95
Your Price: $19.95
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Of Clams, Cooking, and Ambivalence
Review: As a New Englander born and bred, for me there's nothing better than a plate of finely fried clams with a bottle of beer and some tartar sauce or perhaps, a dish of fragrant steamers to be dipped in clam juice and butter. So I had this gut feeling (sorry) that I was going to enjoy Neustadt's CLAMBAKE. I wasn't wrong either. Here, in a most user-friendly format, you can find everything you ever wanted to know about clambakes---the history of clambakes in New England; 19th century customs such as Squantum feasts, political banquets, and Forefather's Day; the rise of tourism and public transportation; the manner of collecting and cooking all ingredients, and how a particular clambake, celebrated every year in a small community in southeastern Massachusetts, related to its participants and performers. Neustadt collected all manner of posters, old photos, and magazine illustrations from the past which are scattered appealingly throughout the text in conjunction with her own photographs. All this is most pleasing and I don't hesitate to recommend the book to anyone interested in the subject.

The second side of the book is one in which the author attempts to link her study of clambakes to the larger field of anthropological theory. As regards this aspect of the book, I think I might have titled my review "To Deconstruct or Not To Deconstruct", for I feel that Neustadt remained extremely ambivalent about her own profession or at least, her participation in its peculiar rituals and behavioral system. She aptly points out that what people refer to as the "tradition" of clambaking is, in fact, invented tradition which draws attention to what was considered a "suitable" past. She nicely concludes that the clambake underlines the imagery of inheritance (from the Indians, from the Pilgrim fathers) rather than the inheritance itself, it being unproven that the Indians ever had any clambaking tradition. So far, so good. But, if I were you, I would skip Chapter 7, in which she tries gamely to relate her research to the work of all sorts of "heavies", but backs off each time, saying that, to her, it really doesn't fit. She is so ambivalent about getting theoretical that one wonders why she even wrote this chapter. (Could it be that it was part of a prior thesis ? Part of her own initiation rites?) Then, surprisingly, in the final chapter, she sums up in excellent form what she thinks it all means, connects clambakes to identity, community, continuity, harmony. Why she needed that previous chapter is even more questionable. She plumps for experience over analysis---which is great as advice for life---but doesn't cut much ice in the arena of intellectual activity. She remains dithering between readers of popular folklore and an academic audience, uncertain of whom she is writing for. It's a strange performance in an otherwise fine book, because you know, she wrote for both.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Juicy Reading
Review: Neustadt's book is enjoyable reading. She writes with clarity and wit, and I especially enjoyed the way that she integrates the study of social history with an analysis of a contemporary foodways tradition. It is especially rewarding to follow her interest in seeing how a seemingly simple event can be studied to discover significant meanings. Her analysis can be applied to other types of community events that center around food preparation and consumption, and she provides useful ideas for discovering ways to document similar folklife events. Although the intrusion of arcane academic arguments might put off the typical reader, the use of jargon is generally accessible, and the hip reader will enjoy Neustadt's clever subversion of the overemphasis on theorizing. The hip reader will then wish to go out and eat some steamed clams. (Pass the butter.)


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