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Action Park : fast times, wild rides, and the untold story of America's most dangerous amusement park  Cover Image Book Book

Action Park : fast times, wild rides, and the untold story of America's most dangerous amusement park / Andy Mulvihill with Jake Rossen.

Mulvihill, Andy, (author.). Rossen, Jake, (author.).

Summary:

"The outlandish, hilarious, terrifying, and almost impossible-to-believe story of the legendary, dangerous amusement park where millions were entertained and almost as many bruises were sustained, told through the eyes of the founder's son Often called "Accident Park," "Class Action Park," or "Traction Park," Action Park was an American icon. Entertaining more than a million people a year in the 1980s, the New Jersey-based amusement playland placed no limits on danger or fun, a monument to the anything-goes spirit of the era that left guests in control of their own adventures--sometimes with tragic results. Though it closed its doors in 1996 after nearly twenty years, it has remained a subject of constant fascination ever since, an establishment completely anathema to our modern culture of rules and safety. Action Park is the first-ever unvarnished look at the history of this DIY Disneyland, as seen through the eyes of Andy Mulvihill, the son of the park's idiosyncratic founder, Gene Mulvihill. From his early days testing precarious rides to working his way up to chief lifeguard of the infamous Wave Pool to later helping run the whole park, Andy's story is equal parts hilarious and moving, chronicling the life and death of a uniquely American attraction, a wet and wild 1980s adolescence, and a son's struggle to understand his father's quixotic quest to become the Walt Disney of New Jersey. Packing in all of the excitement of a day at Action Park, this is destined to be one of the most unforgettable memoirs of the year"-- Provided by publisher.

Record details

  • ISBN: 9780143134510
  • ISBN: 0143134515
  • Physical Description: 342 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm
  • Publisher: [New York, New York] : Penguin Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 2020.

Content descriptions

Formatted Contents Note:
Prologue -- Fort Nonsense -- Fuel -- A crash course -- The people movers -- The wave -- An education -- The hangman's fracture -- Action Park after dark -- The floor beneath our feet -- Afloat -- The draft -- Flight risk -- Freefall -- The loop -- Epilogue.
Subject: Action Park (Vernon, N.J.) > History.
Amusement parks > New Jersey.
New Jersey > Social life and customs > 20th century.
Amusement parks.
Manners and customs.
New Jersey.
New Jersey > Social life and customs.
Genre: History.

Available copies

  • 1 of 1 copy available at Skagit Evergreen Libraries. (Show)
  • 1 of 1 copy available at Burlington Public Library System. (Show)
  • 1 of 1 copy available at Burlington Public Library.

Holds

  • 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Show Only Available Copies
Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Status Due Date
Burlington Public Library 791.0687 MULVIHIL 2020 39851001612747 Non-fiction Copy hold Available -

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1001 . ‡aMulvihill, Andy, ‡eauthor.
24510. ‡aAction Park : ‡bfast times, wild rides, and the untold story of America's most dangerous amusement park / ‡cAndy Mulvihill with Jake Rossen.
264 1. ‡a[New York, New York] : ‡bPenguin Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, ‡c2020.
300 . ‡a342 pages : ‡billustrations ; ‡c21 cm
336 . ‡atext ‡btxt ‡2rdacontent
337 . ‡aunmediated ‡bn ‡2rdamedia
338 . ‡avolume ‡bnc ‡2rdacarrier
520 . ‡a"The outlandish, hilarious, terrifying, and almost impossible-to-believe story of the legendary, dangerous amusement park where millions were entertained and almost as many bruises were sustained, told through the eyes of the founder's son Often called "Accident Park," "Class Action Park," or "Traction Park," Action Park was an American icon. Entertaining more than a million people a year in the 1980s, the New Jersey-based amusement playland placed no limits on danger or fun, a monument to the anything-goes spirit of the era that left guests in control of their own adventures--sometimes with tragic results. Though it closed its doors in 1996 after nearly twenty years, it has remained a subject of constant fascination ever since, an establishment completely anathema to our modern culture of rules and safety. Action Park is the first-ever unvarnished look at the history of this DIY Disneyland, as seen through the eyes of Andy Mulvihill, the son of the park's idiosyncratic founder, Gene Mulvihill. From his early days testing precarious rides to working his way up to chief lifeguard of the infamous Wave Pool to later helping run the whole park, Andy's story is equal parts hilarious and moving, chronicling the life and death of a uniquely American attraction, a wet and wild 1980s adolescence, and a son's struggle to understand his father's quixotic quest to become the Walt Disney of New Jersey. Packing in all of the excitement of a day at Action Park, this is destined to be one of the most unforgettable memoirs of the year"-- ‡cProvided by publisher.
5050 . ‡aPrologue -- Fort Nonsense -- Fuel -- A crash course -- The people movers -- The wave -- An education -- The hangman's fracture -- Action Park after dark -- The floor beneath our feet -- Afloat -- The draft -- Flight risk -- Freefall -- The loop -- Epilogue.
651 0. ‡aAction Park (Vernon, N.J.) ‡xHistory.
650 0. ‡aAmusement parks ‡zNew Jersey.
651 0. ‡aNew Jersey ‡xSocial life and customs ‡y20th century.
650 7. ‡aAmusement parks. ‡2fast ‡0(OCoLC)fst00808076
650 7. ‡aManners and customs. ‡2fast ‡0(OCoLC)fst01007815
651 7. ‡aNew Jersey. ‡2fast ‡0(OCoLC)fst01208379
651 7. ‡aNew Jersey ‡xSocial life and customs. ‡2sears
648 7. ‡a1900-1999 ‡2fast
655 7. ‡aHistory. ‡2fast ‡0(OCoLC)fst01411628
7001 . ‡aRossen, Jake, ‡eauthor.
77608. ‡iOnline version: ‡aMulvihill, Andy. ‡tAction park. ‡dNew York : Penguin Books, 2020 ‡z9780525506294 ‡w(DLC) 2020011879
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