Just so no one thinks I'm wasting all my time. I am reading a book -- "The Savage City" by T.J. English -- about New York in the 1960s and 70s.
I have always been most fascinated by New York during that time. English, author of The Westies, examines the aftermath of a high profile crime -- the career girl murders -- and uses that as a basis to explorerace relations, police corruption and the anger and violence that tore through Fun City.
I'm only about one-third through it, but it is a great read. It is a good companion book to Vincent Cannato's "The Ungovernable City: John Lindsay's New York And The Crisis Of Liberalism." Cannato captures the political battles of that era while English nails life on the street.
I don't know why such a dark period fascinates me so much, but New York just seemed so much more real and gritty then. Anything could happen good or bad and it often did. It sounds crazy to say I would have liked to live there in that era but I realy would. Anyone got a time machine?
Otherwise, I'm still reading lots of Lawrence Block and George Pelecanos.
And one day I'll have my own noir book done. Really. Maybe when I'm 50.
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2 comments:
just picked it up. can't wait to read it
You read The Other Hollywood: The Uncensored Oral History of the Porn Film Industry, of course, right? That was basically a history of NYC in the 70's and early 80s--for the first half, anyway.
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