Just like people, places have identities and personas. Also, just like people, those identities and personas can change over time either by force or by fiat. Michael O. Johnston takes us into a world of the Floatzilla festival where we see how news media facilitate such changes in both people and places. He opens our eyes to some of the ways that contemporary identities are both stabilized and rearranged, and sometimes rearranged again, and how people can act and react to the social forces often out of their control.

Michael Ian Borer, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

"How can cities reimagine themselves by drawing from their heritage to attract tourists, new settlers, and retain their residents? As Michael O. Johnston argues, in experiential economies, authenticity and active participation in shaping one´s community supports belonging and the flourishing of local economies. This fascinating book on the making of the Flotzilla festival on the Mississippi river—a ritual of forming a temporal community in nature, will appeal to urban sociologists, cultural geographers, and students of creativity and media.”

Ugo Corte, author of Dangerous Fun: The Social Lives of Big Wave Surfers