Down 42nd Street: Sex, Money, Culture, and Politics at the Crossroads of the World: Amazon.de: Marc Eliot: Englische Bücher

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Kurzbeschreibung

Erscheinungstermin: 1. November 2002

For years, it loomed as the universal symbol for forbidden sex, theatrical glamour, mob muscle, and political influence. Today, thanks to an astonishing metamorphosis, it has emerged as the new century's favorite American family fantasyland. Naughty, bawdy, and wondrously revealing, this is the life story of the planet's most extraordinary thoroughfare. Parading some of New York City's most unforgettable characters -- including Ed Koch, Donald Trump, Jackie Onassis, Gerald Schoenfeld, and Rudy Giuliani -- bestselling author Marc Eliot portrays as never before the battle between the brothels and the theaters for control of the world's crossroads, the Syndicate's exploitation of pornography to set up a massive Times Square drug operation, and the chance in-flight encounter between the media heiress and the studio boss that planted the seed for "The Deuce's" sweeping Disneyfication. DOWN 42nd STREET is at once colorful social history, spectacular boardroom drama, and grand and suspenseful narrative spectacle. Book jacket.

#outer_postBodyPS { display: none; } #psGradient { display: none; } #psPlaceHolder { display: none; } #psExpand { display: none; } For years, it loomed as the universal symbol for forbidden sex, theatrical glamour, mob muscle, and political influence. Today, thanks to an astonishing metamorphosis, it has emerged as the new century's favorite American family fantasyland. Naughty, bawdy, and wondrously revealing, this is the life story of the planet's most extraordinary thoroughfare. Parading some of New York City's most unforgettable characters -- including Ed Koch, Donald Trump, Jackie Onassis, Gerald Schoenfeld, and Rudy Giuliani -- bestselling author Marc Eliot portrays as never before the battle between the brothels and the theaters for control of the world's crossroads, the Syndicate's exploitation of pornography to set up a massive Times Square drug operation, and the chance in-flight encounter between the media heiress and the studio boss that planted the seed for "The Deuce's" sweeping Disneyfication. DOWN 42nd STREET is at once colorful social history, spectacular boardroom drama, and grand and suspenseful narrative spectacle. Book jacket.

Produktinformation

Taschenbuch: 336 Seiten
Verlag: Grand Central Publishing; Auflage: Reprint (1. November 2002)
Sprache: Englisch
ISBN-10: 0446679933
ISBN-13: 978-0446679930
Gr��e und/oder Gewicht: 23,3 x 15,4 x 2,3 cm

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Amazon.de

In Down 42nd Street, Marc Eliot offers a fascinating and pugnacious history of what may be the most famous street in the United States--or at least the most famously decadent one. "By 1980, [New York's] fabled Manhattan crossroads had become ground zero for the manufacture, exhibition, and distribution of pornography, drug dealing, pedophilia, prostitution, and violent street crime," he writes. Eliot describes 42nd Street's development over time, and he's not afraid to go after a few sacred cows. Here's what he says about the "greatest generation" right after the Second World War: "GIs returning to the U.S. via New York City's harbors and ports were point men in the postwar sex and drug revolution." Today, of course, 42nd Street is a very different place, thanks to a conscious cleanup effort that has brought in Disney and other corporations. Eliot views this trend with a distaste that other may not feel: by the end of the 20th century, he notes with irritation, "42nd Street had become a horizontal Statue of Liberty, a place native New Yorkers avoided like Yellow Fever." All in all, Down 42nd Street is an excellent piece of opinionated urban history told with verve. --John Miller -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine vergriffene oder nicht verf�gbare Ausgabe dieses Titels.

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Amazon.com: 2.7 von 5 Sternen 9 Rezensionen

15 von 16 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich

4.0 von 5 Sternen YOU CAN HEAR THE BEAT OF 42nd STREET IN THIS READING 10. Januar 2002

Von Gail Cooke - Ver�ffentlicht auf Amazon.com

Format:H�rkassette

You can almost hear the actual beat of New York's 42nd Street in this finely articulated reading by the author. You surely learn a great deal about the history of this fabled avenue of broken dreams that was once home to mob rule, illicit sex, on-the-take politicos, and glamorous denizens of the theatre both above and below ground.
Today it has morphed into a family playground boasting clean entertainment. The only Xs to be seen are where children stand to have their pictures taken.
"Down 42nd Street" opens in the 1890s when the Big Apple saw elegant townhouses and the emergence of Wall Street and entertainment moguls. As the new century dawned 42nd Street had become a business district to the east, and the home of show business to the west.
The aftermath of World War II saw the west side of the Street descend into drug dealer's turf with violent crime an everyday occurrence and prostitutes at the ready.
Both fascinating and informative "Down 42nd Street" is quite a trip!

- Gail Cooke

8 von 8 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich

2.0 von 5 Sternen Caveat Emptor: Enjoyable But Flawed 30. M�rz 2002

Von Steve Iaco - Ver�ffentlicht auf Amazon.com

Format:H�rkassette

"Down 42nd Street" is a path I walk five days a week. It has been enjoyable to watch the stunning metamorphosis of this grand boulevard over the past decade or so. It was, therefore, with eager anticipation that I picked up this new history of 42nd Street.

On one level, it was an enjoyable read, offering illuminating anecdotes such as the encampment of George Washington's troops on the grounds of what is now the New York Public Library during the pivotal Battle of New York. In the 19th Century, the site would house the Croton Reservoir colossus. On the adjacent property, the Crystal Palace pavallion -- featuring the tallest structure in New York at the time -- became the City's premier social gathering place until it burned down while firefighters futilely tried to draw ground-level water from the high-walled reservoir. The demise of the Crystal Palace would clear the way for the development of Bryant Park on this site in the period after the Civil War.

The book is loaded with fascinating tidbits like these for people who enjoy history.

A good portion of the book is devoted to the spreading hegemony of illicit drugs, pornography and crime on West 42nd Street in the period after World War II, and the reclamation of the street in the 1990s. This is where "Down 42nd Street" falls down. The author -- an entertainment writer -- presents several misstatements that seriously tarnish his narrative. At one point, he asserts that Olympia & York owned Rockefeller Center -- hugh?? -- and contends that in 1981, "Governor" Cuomo dropped his opposition to the selection of a lead developer after Mayor Koch hinted at challenging the "Governor" in 1982. (Cuomo did not become Governor until 1983 following a primary challenge from Koch in the fall of 1982! Don't they employ factcheckers at Warner Books?)

The storyline really becomes muddled when describing the sequence of events in Times Square in 1990s, and it is clear that the author is out of his element here. He creates the appearance that the Conde Nast Building was the last of the four "elephant legs" in the 42nd Street Redevelopment Plan to be built. It was the first. He has Morgan Stanley purchasing its headquarters on Broadway and 49th Street AFTER the groundbreaking on the "elephant legs" when, in fact, the purchase pre-dated the Conde Nast groundbreaking by at least two years. He has Bertelsmann -- a true Times Square pioneer -- moving into its Broadway headquarters in 1999, about five years late. The list could go on.

These factual flaws diminish what started out as an enjoyable history. Caveat Emptor.

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4.0 von 5 Sternen Captures Feel of the Street, Despite some Muddy History 8. Februar 2002

Von Ricky Hunter - Ver�ffentlicht auf Amazon.com

Format:Gebundene Ausgabe

Marc Elliot's Down 42nd Street (Sex, Money, Culture, and Politics at the Crossoads of the World) may frustrate some history mavens looking for exact truth but will be a thrill to anyone who wants to read a book that truly captures the spirit of 42nd Street. The first part of the book is the historical buildup to the author's main playground, the years of fighting to fix the street from Lindsay to Giuliani (with a wonderful portrayal of Koch, for an added thrill) as the street moved from the Crossroads of the (Porn and Drug) World to a branch of the Disney franchise. The book does deliver the sex, money, culture, and politics of its subtitle, in very healthy doses. There are no startling revelations only many, many small thrills, much like the street itself. An enjoyable read.

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