Automats, Taxi Dances, and Vaudeville: Excavating Manhattan’s Lost Places of Leisure ISBN: 9780814728543 Platform/Publisher: De Gruyter / New York University Press Digital rights:Users: Unlimited; Printing: Unlimited; Download: Unlimited Subjects: History; Topics in History; Global History;
In its people and its real estate, New York maintains a complicated relationship with its past: though always moving forward, the city is also preoccupied with its grand old architecture, a refined sense of nostalgia and an idealized sense of times gone by. Still, few New Yorkers know much about the city's actual history. Historian and music journalist Freeland (Ladies of Soul) provides an excellent correction in this detailed exploration of Manhattan's lost leisure spots, from defunct 19th century Chinatown beer gardens to the earliest integrated theaters in Harlem. Along the way, Freeland unreels meticulous accounts of Manhattan's more fascinating and scandalous moments. New Yorkers past and present will learn much about parts of the city-buildings, neighborhoods, people and hot spots-long gone, or so transformed as to be unrecognizable. Focusing on five neighborhoods-Chinatown, Union Square/East Village, the Tenderloin, Harlem and Times Square-these stories provide a vivid cross-section of the city as a whole in ways a more generalized approach couldn't. Exceptionally well-written and researched, this volume will satisfy anyone curious about New York, or the way a modern metropolis builds and rebuilds itself to reflect the times. (Aug.) Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.
Freeland David :
David Freeland is a writer who specializes in music history and popular culture. He is a contributing writer to the weekly New York Press , and his articles and criticism have also appeared in music magazines including American Songwriter , Relix , and Goldmine . He is the author of Ladies of Soul , a history of under-recognized female vocalists from the 1960s, and wrote the introduction, supplementary articles, and over 100 entries for Schirmer's reference work Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Popular Musicians . He lives in New York City.
