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The second entry in my 10 Best Books for Themed Entertainment is Fireworks: A History and Celebration, by George Plimpton.

Gen X’ers like me may remember George Plimpton, king of the Mid-Atlantic accent, from the Intellivision game console commercials in the 1980s. But he is best known for his contribution to the literary journal The Paris Review, and for his participatory journalism, like the time he tried out for quarterback on Detroit’s football team as recounted in his book Paper Lion.

Plimpton’s interest in fireworks may have started in the army, where he was a demolitions expert after World War II. Fireworks is an incomplete and highly personal history of pyrotechnics, but also a highly readable introduction to the explosive subject matter. In it he tells the story of his involvement with the Grucci family, one of the first families of American fireworks, participating in the International Fireworks Festival in 1979 in Monte Carlo.

My dad worked with the Grucci family on several occasions including Reagan’s second inauguration and met Plimpton at that time. Ron will proudly tell you that George called his Bicentennial Celebration in front of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, “the best he’s ever seen.”

Apart from the 4th of July and the largest of televised sporting events, theme parks are the number one way most Americans experience fireworks in real life. And I whole-heartedly endorse this end-of-day tradition. Although fireworks are fading away from nightly performances for a variety of good reasons, to be replaced by drones and water fountains and other high-tech light displays, I hope they never fade out entirely. I’m with George… there’s nothing that can match the magic of fireworks.

George Plimpton did a lot of cool things, including being named New York City’s unofficial fireworks commissioner, a title he cherished, until he died in 2003. This is a great book, but sadly hard to find. Highly recommended for anyone who shares my love of fireworks.

— Ryan Miziker