"Ehrenreich writes with grace and clarity in a fascinating, wide-ranging and
generous account."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"A serious look at communal celebrations, well documented and presented with assurance
and flair."--Kirkus Reviews

From best-selling social commentator and cultural historian Barbara Ehrenreich comes this
fascinating exploration of one of humanity's oldest traditions: the celebration of communal joy,
historically expressed in ecstatic revels of feasting, costuming, and dancing. Ehrenreich
uncovers the origins of communal celebration in human biology and culture, showing that
such mass festivities have been indigenous to the West since the ancient Greeks. Though
suppressed by elites who fear the undermining of social hierarchies, outbreaks of group
revelry still persist, Ehrenreich shows, pointing to the 1960s rock-and-roll rebellion and the
more recent "carnivalization" of sports.

Original, exhilarating, and deeply optimistic, Dancing in the Streets shows that we
are innately social beings, impelled to share our joy and thereby envision a peaceable future.