Table of Contents

Introduction: Puritanism, Play, and American Culture - DID PURITANS LIKE FUN? - Sober Mirth and Pleasant Poisons: Historians, Puritan Ambivalence, and the Concept of Pleasure in Early New England - INTELLECTUAL AND CULTURAL ENTERTAINMENT - Quiet Times: Reading for Pleasure and Profit - Music and Theater Struggle for Legitimacy - GATHERING TOGETHER - Congregational Socializing: Gathering Together at the Meetinghouse - Civic Socializing: Parties for the Common Good - MEN AND WOMEN FROLIC TOGETHER - Frolics for Fun: Dances, Weddings, and Dinner Parties - The Progress of Romance: Sex and Courtship - Drinking and Socializing: Alcohol, Taverns, and Alehouse Culture - SPECIAL OPPORTUNITIES AND BARRIERS - Men Frolic by Themselves: Sport and Games in a Male Culture - The Fragmentation of Social Experience: Age, Gender, Location, and Social Class - PURITANS, REVOLUTIONARIES AND AMERICANS - The Puritan Legacy: The National Inheritance - Endnotes - Index

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