{"product_id":"9780374528997","title":"Low Life : Lures and Snares of Old New York","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eLow Life\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): Luc Sante\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eLuc Sante's \u003ci\u003eLow Life \u003c\/i\u003eis a portrait of America's greatest city, the riotous and anarchic breeding ground of modernity. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLow Life \u003c\/i\u003evoyages 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLow Life\u003c\/i\u003e 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e“A cacophonous poem of democracy and greed, like the streets of New York themselves.” —\u003ci\u003eJohn Vernon, Los Angeles Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9780374528997\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"Farrar, Straus and Giroux","offers":[{"title":"Paperback \/ softback","offer_id":40660364853454,"sku":"9780374528997","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/getimage_2b16bde5-5f55-40aa-b4b7-3792b3617bee.jpg?v=1639538681","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9780374528997","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}