The village: 400 years of Beats and bohemians, radicals and rogues : a history of Greenwich Village

*Starred Review* Cultural journalist Strausbaugh (Sissy Nation, 2008), a man of rattling opinions, makes all the legends about Greenwich Village and its bohemians new and vital in his sizzling and capacious history, by virtue of his archaeologically deep and patient research, vigorous style, and keen admiration for those who made the Village a world-altering cultural engine. He has retrieved stories of the forgotten and the famous, from the African Americans who farmed the bucolic land in the 1600s to such luminaries as Margaret Sanger, Edna St. Vincent Millay, James Baldwin, Jackson Pollock, and Bob Dylan. Strausbaugh cleverly anchors each phase in his ever-branching chronicle to the hot spot of the time, from Pfaff's, in Walt Whitman's era, to the White Horse Tavern, where Dylan Thomas downed his last whiskey; the Cedar Street Tavern, hangout of the abstract expressionists; and the writers' bar, the Lion's Head, where Norman Mailer held court. Strausbaugh goes into astounding detail in his coverage of the Village's radical politics and quest for sexual freedom, paying particular attention to its thriving homosexual community. Though now, as Strausbaugh duly records, the Village is a sanitized bastion of the wealthy, in its golden days, its diverse artists collided and fused like subatomic particles in an accelerator, unleashing an explosion of creativity that is still sending out shock waves.--Seaman, Donna Copyright 2010 Booklist

In this sprawling, crowded, biography on one of New York City's more alluring and storied neighborhoods, former New York Times commentator Strausbaugh traces the history of Greenwich Village from its beginning as bucolic countryside to its current incarnation as both tourist destination and astringent residence for the elite. In between, Strausbaugh introduces a dizzying array of historical figures and events so salacious the book reads more like one long gossip column full of sex, drugs, alcohol, violence, art, music, the mob, and more. None of this is a bad thing; for long stretches, the pages practically turn themselves. Along the way, readers are fed fascinating little tidbits and images: Washington Square Park as a boggy mass grave site for the city's paupers and Yellow fever victims, the poet Edna St. Vincent Millay and her sister Norma teaching themselves to swear while darning socks, a drunk Jackson Pollock's frequent violent outbursts at the Cedar Street Tavern, and much, much more. No citation will do the book justice; it deserves to be read while walking below 14th Street silently mourning the loss of a neighborhood that has given so much by way of art and culture. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

More than a geographical location, New York City's Greenwich Village represents a state of mind-one generally associated with creativity, rebellion, and bohemianism. In this sweeping study, Strausbaugh (Black Like You) acknowledges these themes as he traces the history of the Village from its early settlement in the 1600s to the present day. He examines its role in the arts within the context of broader issues and periods such as Prohibition, World War II, McCarthyism, organized crime, and gay liberation. Among the writers, artists, and musicians discussed are Amy Lowell, Maxwell Bodenheim, Norman Mailer, Allen Ginsberg, Jackson Pollock, Larry Rivers, Charlie Parker, Bob Dylan, and Edward Albee; portraits from other walks of life include Vincent "Chin" Giganti, Ed Koch, and Jane Jacobs. It is the greater emphasis on political and sociological issues as well as a wider time frame that sets this book apart from earlier works such as Ross Wetzsteon's Republic of Dreams: Greenwich Village; The American Bohemia, 1910-1960. -VERDICT The most comprehensive, up-to-date history of Greenwich Village, this book will appeal to a wide audience, particularly those interested in an interdisciplinary approach to the subject.-William Gargan, Brooklyn Coll. Lib., CUNY (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

The author of Sissy Nation: How America Became a Nation of Wimps and Stoopits (2008) and other cultural criticisms and histories returns with a long, loving and thoroughly researched look at what he calls "a zone of rogues and outcasts from the start." Strausbaugh begins his chronological Village tour in the 17th century, when the Indians, Dutch and English were contesting for Manhattan. But once might prevailed, the area--which was indeed once a separate village--evolved initially in the post-Revolutionary era as something fairly upscale: summer retreats for the wealthy. Later, Paine and Poe were there, as was Walt Whitman, who took Emerson for a drink at Pfaff's. As the decades proceeded, the author necessarily focuses on key individuals, events and places. The many African-Americans who once lived there emigrated to Harlem; the 1911 Triangle fire propelled social change; liberals and radicals arrived, including Lincoln Steffens and Emma Goldman. Writers and artists proliferated, and soon it was a hotbed for small theater productions. Susan Glaspell and Eugene O'Neill mounted early shows there; later came Albee and Shepard. Publications and publishers came, too--The Little Review, Village Voice, Evergreen Review, Grove Press. Strausbaugh charts the music history of the area, from jazz to folk (Bob Dylan will not like his portrait here) to rock. Early and/or sordid death is a theme--from Phil Ochs and Dave Van Ronk to Lenny Bruce. The author spends a lot of time on the emergence of the Village as a battleground for the LGBT communities--from actual clashes (Stonewall) to the desperation of AIDS. He seems saddened by the gentrification of the Village--at the impossible prices and rents that exclude the creative and contentious bohemians of yesteryear. Fine social history humanized with a sort of paradise-lost wistfulness.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

*Starred Review* Cultural journalist Strausbaugh (Sissy Nation, 2008), a man of rattling opinions, makes all the legends about Greenwich Village and its bohemians new and vital in his sizzling and capacious history, by virtue of his archaeologically deep and patient research, vigorous style, and keen admiration for those who made the Village a world-altering "cultural engine." He has retrieved stories of the forgotten and the famous, from the African Americans who farmed the bucolic land in the 1600s to such luminaries as Margaret Sanger, Edna St. Vincent Millay, James Baldwin, Jackson Pollock, and Bob Dylan. Strausbaugh cleverly anchors each phase in his ever-branching chronicle to the hot spot of the time, from Pfaff's, in Walt Whitman's era, to the White Horse Tavern, where Dylan Thomas downed his last whiskey; the Cedar Street Tavern, hangout of the abstract expressionists; and the writers' bar, the Lion's Head, where Norman Mailer held court. Strausbaugh goes into astounding detail in his coverage of the Village's radical politics and quest for sexual freedom, paying particular attention to its thriving homosexual community. Though now, as Strausbaugh duly records, the Village is a sanitized bastion of the wealthy, in its golden days, its diverse artists "collided and fused like subatomic particles in an accelerator, unleashing an explosion of creativity" that is still sending out shock waves. Copyright 2012 Booklist Reviews.

More than a geographical location, New York City's Greenwich Village represents a state of mind—one generally associated with creativity, rebellion, and bohemianism. In this sweeping study, Strausbaugh (Black Like You) acknowledges these themes as he traces the history of the Village from its early settlement in the 1600s to the present day. He examines its role in the arts within the context of broader issues and periods such as Prohibition, World War II, McCarthyism, organized crime, and gay liberation. Among the writers, artists, and musicians discussed are Amy Lowell, Maxwell Bodenheim, Norman Mailer, Allen Ginsberg, Jackson Pollock, Larry Rivers, Charlie Parker, Bob Dylan, and Edward Albee; portraits from other walks of life include Vincent "Chin" Giganti, Ed Koch, and Jane Jacobs. It is the greater emphasis on political and sociological issues as well as a wider time frame that sets this book apart from earlier works such as Ross Wetzsteon's Republic of Dreams: Greenwich Village; The American Bohemia, 1910–1960. VERDICT The most comprehensive, up-to-date history of Greenwich Village, this book will appeal to a wide audience, particularly those interested in an interdisciplinary approach to the subject.—William Gargan, Brooklyn Coll. Lib., CUNY

In this sprawling, crowded, biography on one of New York City's more alluring and storied neighborhoods, former New York Times commentator Strausbaugh traces the history of Greenwich Village from its beginning as bucolic countryside to its current incarnation as both tourist destination and astringent residence for the elite. In between, Strausbaugh introduces a dizzying array of historical figures and events so salacious the book reads more like one long gossip column full of sex, drugs, alcohol, violence, art, music, the mob, and more. None of this is a bad thing; for long stretches, the pages practically turn themselves. Along the way, readers are fed fascinating little tidbits and images: Washington Square Park as a boggy mass grave site for the city's paupers and Yellow fever victims, the poet Edna St. Vincent Millay and her sister Norma teaching themselves to swear while darning socks, a drunk Jackson Pollock's frequent violent outbursts at the Cedar Street Tavern, and much, much more. No citation will do the book justice; it deserves to be read while walking below 14th Street silently mourning the loss of a neighborhood that has given so much by way of art and culture. (Apr.)

In this sprawling, crowded, biography on one of New York City's more alluring and storied neighborhoods, former New York Times commentator Strausbaugh traces the history of Greenwich Village from its beginning as bucolic countryside to its current incarnation as both tourist destination and astringent residence for the elite. In between, Strausbaugh introduces a dizzying array of historical figures and events so salacious the book reads more like one long gossip column full of sex, drugs, alcohol, violence, art, music, the mob, and more. None of this is a bad thing; for long stretches, the pages practically turn themselves. Along the way, readers are fed fascinating little tidbits and images: Washington Square Park as a boggy mass grave site for the city's paupers and Yellow fever victims, the poet Edna St. Vincent Millay and her sister Norma teaching themselves to swear while darning socks, a drunk Jackson Pollock's frequent violent outbursts at the Cedar Street Tavern, and much, much more. No citation will do the book justice; it deserves to be read while walking below 14th Street silently mourning the loss of a neighborhood that has given so much by way of art and culture. (Apr.)