Best of
New-York

1991

Close to the Knives: A Memoir of Disintegration


David Wojnarowicz - 1991
    Street life, drugs, art and nature, family, AIDS, politics, friendship and acceptance: Wojnarowicz challenges us to examine our lives -- politically, socially, emotionally, and aesthetically.

Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York


Luc Sante - 1991
    This is not the familiar saga of mansions, avenues, and robber barons, but the messy, turbulent, often murderous story of the city's slums; the teeming streets--scene of innumerable cons and crimes whose cramped and overcrowded housing is still a prominent feature of the cityscape.Low Life voyages through Manhattan from four different directions. Part One examines the actual topography of Manhattan from 1840 to 1919; Part Two, the era's opportunities for vice and entertainment--theaters and saloons, opium and cocaine dens, gambling and prostitution; Part Three investigates the forces of law and order which did and didn't work to contain the illegalities; Part Four counterposes the city's tides of revolt and idealism against the city as it actually was.Low Life provides an arresting and entertaining view of what New York was actually like in its salad days. But it's more than simpy a book about New York. It's one of the most provocative books about urban life ever written--an evocation of the mythology of the quintessential modern metropolis, which has much to say not only about New York's past but about the present and future of all cities.

Keith Haring: The Authorized Biography


John Gruen - 1991
    By the time of his death in 1990 at the age of thirty-one, Haring's career had moved from underground New York to the most prestigious galleries and museums in the world. Here Keith Haring's story is told by those who knew him—and by the artist himself. He candidly reflects on all aspects of his life, including his approach to art, being gay, and how he came to terms with AIDS. John Gruen masterfully combines Haring's own words with the observations of those who knew him best, including art dealer Leo Castelli; Madonna; artists Roy Lichtenstein, Francesco Clemente, and Kenny Scharf; Claude Picasso; Timothy Leary; and William Burroughs, among others. Haring emerges as both a courageous and enigmatic personality—a champion of art for all people.

Between Thought and Expression: Selected Lyrics


Lou Reed - 1991
    Presented as poetry, this collection of sharp-edged social criticism and shrewd observation coincides with the release of Reed's new album.

How I Found America: Collected Stories of Anzia Yezierska


Anzia Yezierska - 1991
    Individually, each of these 27 stories is authentic and immediate, as memorable as family history passed from one generation to the next; taken together, they comprise a vivid, enduring portrait of the struggles of immigrant Jews—particularly women—on New York's Lower East Side.

Nora Ephron Collected


Nora Ephron - 1991
    Paperback: 216 pages Publisher: Avon Books (P) (February 1991) Language: English ISBN-10: 0380712539 ISBN-13: 978-0380712533

The Ellis Island Immigrant Cookbook


Tom Bernardin - 1991
    

Old Queens, N.Y., in Early Photographs: 261 Prints


Vincent F. Seyfried - 1991
    James Episcopal Church (1735) in Elmhurst; and Woodside (in one of the oldest known photographs of the area — 1871-72). Also depicted are a cluster of more recent landmarks: Astoria Studios, the Whitestone Bridge under construction, the 1939 World's Fair, and much more.Each fascinating photograph is accompanied by a detailed, well-researched caption, while a general Introduction vividly outlines the colorful history of Queens — from its prehistoric glacial origins through a lengthy period of agricultural development that lasted from colonial times through much of the 1800s, to the twentieth century, when it acquired a largely residential character.Compiled by two noted experts on Long Island history, this pictorial grand tour will be a must for residents of Queens, Long Islanders, nostalgia buffs, historians, and lovers of vintage photography.

Lost Broadway Theatres


Nicholas van Hoogstraten - 1991
    The extensive redevelopment of Times Square by Disney has focused attention on the architectural glories of the Great White Way, as the recent and much-anticipated reopening of the New Amsterdam Theater demonstrates. Princeton Architectural Press is pleased to announce a revised and updated edition of Lost Broadway Theatres, as part of the renewed interest in Broadway.Lost Broadway Theatres is the only definitive, comprehensive history of the New York playhouses of the past. Over fifty theaters, dating from the 1880s to the 1930s, are presented through brief histories and period photographs. Some of the theaters included are the Ziegfeld, the Lyric, Hammerstein's, and the Republic. This new edition includes additional photos and updated historical information on this fascinating piece of New York City's past. Emmy award-winner Nick van Hoogstraten has included two new theaters, the Biltmore and the Mark Hellinger, as well as images of newly restored theaters the New Amsterdam and the New Victory.

New York's 50 Best Places to Find Peace & Quiet


Allan Ishac - 1991
    NEW YORK’S 50 BEST PLACES TO FIND PEACE AND QUIET, takes the reader to 50 oases of serenity around the city—from gardens to spas, meditation centers to wildlife refuges—each a revitalizing place of calm amidst the daily bustle and grind of urban life. "If you’re at wit’s end and frantic for tranquility, relax…you can buy [this] sweet little book." The New York Times.

Inventing Times Square: Commerce and Culture at the Crossroads of the World


William R. Taylor - 1991
    Ranging in time from 1905, when the crossroad was given its present name, through to the current plans for redevelopment, the authors examine Times Square as economic hub, real estate bonanza, entertainment center, advertising medium, architectural experiment, and erotic netherworld. Though the volume centers on Times Square, the essays venture much further into urban history and American social history, revealing in the process how Times Square reflected—even epitomized—America as it became an urban consumer culture.