The Man with the Sawed-Off Leg and Other Tales of a New York City Block

Daniel J. Wakin

ISBN 10: 194892451X / ISBN 13: 9781948924511

Edité par Skyhorse Publishing, US, 2019

A propos de cet article

A Fascinating Biography of One City Block in Upper Manhattan, Bringing Buildings to Life through Stories Drawn from the Flesh-and-Blood Beings who Pass Through Them If only the walls could talk, what would they say? Standing proudly, gazing across the Hudson River at the cliffs of New Jersey, their brows are marked by ornamental pediments. Greek columns stand as sentries by their entrances and stone medallions bedeck their chests. They are seven graceful relics of Beaux Arts New York, townhouses built more than one hundred years ago for a new class of industrialists, actors and scientists-many from abroad-who made their fortunes in the United States and shaped the lives of Americans. This book brings to life the ghosts who inhabit that row of townhouses on Manhattan's stately Riverside Drive for the first fifty years of the twentieth century. From gangsters to industrialists, from future mayors to murderers, from movie stars to mafia dons, one block in a burgeoning city saw it all. Meet some of the colorful collection of people who lived in each of New York's "Seven Sisters," including: Percy Geary and John Oley, two Albany gangsters with a background in kidnapping and bootlegging;Lucretia Davis, baking powder heiress;Jokichi Takamine, the world's first biotech engineer and one of the few Japanese scientists in the United States at the turn of the nineteenth century. Marion Davies, the mistress of William Randolph Hearst, who rose to movie stardom on the back of W.R.'s publicity machine while living on the block;Julia Marlowe, America's greatest Shakespearean actress of the age;The Fabers, of pencil fame;Billy Phelan's Greatest Game, the Albany gang made famous by William Kennedy;In addition to Duke Ellington, two mayors, and, lurking in the background, Legs Diamond. Daniel Wakin pulls together their individual stories and weaves them into a tapestry indicative of and unique to New York City, breathing new life into these historic buildings and the histories they've witnessed and giving us an unforgettable, intimate glimpse into the past.

N° de réf. du vendeur LU-9781948924511

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: The Man with the Sawed-Off Leg and Other Tales of a New York City Block
• Éditeur: Skyhorse Publishing, US
• Date de parution: 2019
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN à 10 chiffres: 194892451X
• ISBN à 13 chiffres: 9781948924511
• Reliure: Paperback
• État de l'article: New
• Poids: 1066 grammes

A propos de ce titre

Synopsis

A Fascinating Biography of One City Block in Upper Manhattan, Bringing Buildings to Life through Stories Drawn from the Flesh-and-Blood Beings who Pass Through Them

If only the walls could talk, what would they say?

Standing proudly, gazing across the Hudson River at the cliffs of New Jersey, their brows are marked by ornamental pediments. Greek columns stand as sentries by their entrances and stone medallions bedeck their chests. They are seven graceful relics of Beaux Arts New York, townhouses built more than one hundred years ago for a new class of industrialists, actors and scientists—many from abroad—who made their fortunes in the United States and shaped the lives of Americans.

This book brings to life the ghosts who inhabit that row of townhouses on Manhattan's stately Riverside Drive for the first fifty years of the twentieth century. From gangsters to industrialists, from future mayors to murderers, from movie stars to mafia dons, one block in a burgeoning city saw it all. Meet some of the colorful collection of people who lived in each of New York's "Seven Sisters," including:

• Percy Geary and John Oley, two Albany gangsters with a background in kidnapping and bootlegging;
• Lucretia Davis, baking powder heiress;
• Jokichi Takamine, the world's first biotech engineer and one of the few Japanese scientists in the United States at the turn of the nineteenth century. 
• Marion Davies, the mistress of William Randolph Hearst, who rose to movie stardom on the back of W.R.'s publicity machine while living on the block;
• Julia Marlowe, America's greatest Shakespearean actress of the age;
• The Fabers, of pencil fame;
• Billy Phelan's Greatest Game, the Albany gang made famous by William Kennedy;
• In addition to Duke Ellington, two mayors, and, lurking in the background, Legs Diamond.

Daniel Wakin pulls together their individual stories and weaves them into a tapestry indicative of and unique to New York City, breathing new life into these historic buildings and the histories they've witnessed and giving us an unforgettable, intimate glimpse into the past.

À propos de l'auteur

Daniel J. Wakin has been an editor and reporter at The New York Times since 2000. As a reporter for the Times, his beats included religion, classical music and dance, and general assignment in the Metro department. He has covered stories in more than a dozen countries in Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Latin America, including the election of two popes. He also took part in the group that produced the Emmy-nominated multimedia project Inside the Quartet. A graduate of Harvard University with a degree in the Classics, Mr. Wakin continues to be an avid amateur clarinetist. The Man with the Sawed-Off Leg and Other Tales of a New York City Block is his first book.