Nightclub City Politics and Amusement in Manhattan Burton W.
Peretti ""Nightclub City" tells the behind-the-scenes story of
Manhattan's glamorous nightlife at its peak. Packed with colorful
characters, terrific original research, and an unusually accessible
writing style, "Nightclub City" is a gritty social history of
America's most glitzy fantasies."--Debby Applegate, Pulitzer
Prize-winning author of "The Most Famous Man in America: The
Biography of Henry Ward Beecher" "Meticulously researched. . . .
Peretti builds on previous studies of urban nightlife and
entertainment, and his contribution is to look at institutions of
commercial night life not from the perspective of consumers but
from that of the reformer or official trying to tax, control,
prohibit, or criminalize the purveyors of pleasure."--"Journal of
American History" "Peretti convincingly argues that nightclubs, at
the peak of their popularity, played a small but highly significant
role in redefining the relationship between America's government
and its citizenry. . . . He skillfully wields illustrative quotes,
cogent analysis, and an impressive body of archival
evidence."--"Journal of Urban History" In the Roaring Twenties, New
York City nightclubs and speakeasies became hot spots where
traditions were flouted and modernity was forged. With powerful
patrons in Tammany Hall and a growing customer base, nightclubs
flourished in spite of the efforts of civic-minded reformers and
federal Prohibition enforcement. This encounter between clubs and
government-generated scandals, reform crusades, and regulations
helped to redefine the image and reality of urban life in the
United States. Ultimately, it took the Great Depression to cool
Manhattan's Jazz Age nightclubs, forcing them to adapt and
relocate, but not before they left their mark on the future of
American leisure. "Nightclub City" explores the cultural
significance of New York City's nightlife between the wars, from
Texas Guinan's notorious 300 Club to Billy Rose's nostalgic Diamond
Horseshoe. Whether in Harlem, Midtown, or Greenwich Village,
raucous nightclub activity tested early twentieth-century social
boundaries. Anglo-Saxon novelty seekers, Eastern European
impresarios, and African American performers crossed ethnic lines
while provocative comediennes and scantily clad chorus dancers
challenged and reshaped notions of femininity. These havens of
liberated sexuality, as well as prostitution and illicit liquor
consumption, allowed their denizens to explore their fantasies and
fears of change. The reactions of cultural critics, federal
investigators, and reformers such as Fiorello La Guardia exemplify
the tension between leisure and order. Peretti's research delves
into the symbiotic relationships among urban politicians, social
reformers, and the business of vice. Illustrated with archival
photographs of the clubs and the characters who frequented them,
"Nightclub City" is a dark and dazzling study of New York's bygone
nightlife. Burton W. Peretti is Professor of History at Western
Connecticut State University and the author of "Jazz in American
Culture." 2007 304 pages 6 x 9 14 illus. ISBN 978-0-8122-3997-3
Cloth $55.00s 36.00 ISBN 978-0-8122-2157-2 Paper $24.95s 16.50 ISBN
978-0-8122-0336-3 Ebook $24.95s 16.50 World Rights American History
Short copy: This dark and dazzling history of New York City
nightclub life in the 1920s and '30s explores the complex
relationships among urban politicians, social reformers, and the
business of vice.
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