Description

Book Synopsis

A cacophonous poem of democracy and greed, like the streets of New York themselves.
?John Vernon, Los Angeles Times Book Review


Lucy Sante''s Low Life is a portrait of America''s greatest city, the riotous and anarchic breeding ground of modernity.

This is not the familiar saga of mansions, avenues, and robber barons, but the messy, turbulent, often murderous story of the city''s slums; the teeming streets--scene of innumerable cons and crimes whose cramped and overcrowded housing is still a prominent feature of the cityscape.

Low Life voyages through Manhattan from four different directions. Part One examines the actual topography of Manhattan from 1840 to 1919; Part Two, the era''s opportunities for vice and entertainment--theaters and saloons, opium and cocaine dens, gambling and prostitution; Part Three investigates the forces of law and order which did and didn''t work to contain the illegalities; Part Four count

Low Life Lures and Snares of Old New York

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    A Paperback by Lucy Sante

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      Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
      Publication Date: 11/24/2003 12:00:00 AM
      ISBN13: 9780374528997, 978-0374528997
      ISBN10: 0374528993
      Also in:
      History of the Americas Local history Social and cultural history

      Description

      Book Synopsis

      A cacophonous poem of democracy and greed, like the streets of New York themselves.
      ?John Vernon, Los Angeles Times Book Review


      Lucy Sante''s Low Life is a portrait of America''s greatest city, the riotous and anarchic breeding ground of modernity.

      This is not the familiar saga of mansions, avenues, and robber barons, but the messy, turbulent, often murderous story of the city''s slums; the teeming streets--scene of innumerable cons and crimes whose cramped and overcrowded housing is still a prominent feature of the cityscape.

      Low Life voyages through Manhattan from four different directions. Part One examines the actual topography of Manhattan from 1840 to 1919; Part Two, the era''s opportunities for vice and entertainment--theaters and saloons, opium and cocaine dens, gambling and prostitution; Part Three investigates the forces of law and order which did and didn''t work to contain the illegalities; Part Four count

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