Overview

In the same absorbing style that characterized his bestseller Lost Hollywood--here complemented by more than twenty archival photos--David Wallace presents a richly detailed, reader-friendly chronicle of the Prohibition-era personalities and events that made New York City the cultural and financial capital of the world. Sex, sin, song, work, sports, play--all these aspects of New York and more are told through a rich array of anecdotes and ""inside"" profiles of the individuals that personified them in a defining decade. The Roaring Twenties swept through other cities, too--including Paris, London, and Berlin. But New York City roared the loudest, and what happened in the Big Apple during that era of social, economic, and cultural prosperity forever altered the way people lived. As no book has to date, "" Capital of the World"" brings alive this giant of a city in this dizzying time--a period that saw Prohibition, the rise of the Mafia, the birth of radio and mass communication, and the beginnings of gossip as a business. This was also an era abuzz with the arts, film, fashion, jazz, and speakeasies. An era in which a burgeoning new media popularized baseball, boxing, and other sports as never before. This was when women achieved the right to vote, and when the automobile revolutionized the lives of millions. And New York City was at the center of it all. Among the many personality driven themes so richly addressed in ""Capital of the World"" * Sherman Billingsely's Stork Club and Prohibition * Martha Graham and modern dance * Babe Ruth and sports * David Sarnoff and radio * Alexander Woollcott, Dorothy Parker, and the rest of The Round Table * Lucky Luciano and organized crime * Mayor Jimmy ""Gentleman Jim"" Walker and politics * Madam Polly Adler and the brothels * Walter Winchell and the birth of gossip journalism * The Cotton Club and the Harlem Renaissance * And much more...

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9780762770106

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Reviews

The 1920s' distinctive cultural creation, the celebrity, is the real star of this gallery of famous New Yorkers. . . . Take Fanny Brice, then a popular comedienne. She was the inspiration for the hit musical and 1968 movie Funny Girl . . . . Others are novelist Anita Loos ( Gentlemen Prefer Blondes ), mobster Lucky Luciano ( The Godfather ), and a Harlem nightclub ( The Cotton Club ). . . . Also including figures from journalism, prostitution, politics, music, and dance, Wallace's tome recalls the fizz and biz of 1920s publicity.-- Booklist

Author Information

David Wallace is the author of several books, including the national bestseller ""Lost Hollywood ."" He is the former national correspondent for ""People Weekly"" and has published regularly in numerous other publications, including the ""Los Angeles"""" Times, Denver Post, Ladies Home Journal, ""and ""Life.""""Hair.""

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