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Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York [Paperback]

Luc Sante (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

There are very few classics in the field of pop culture--the academic stuff tends to be too dry and the fun stuff is too quickly dated. This book by Luc Sante is the exception--in fluid prose liberally sprinkled with astute metaphors, Sante tells the story of New York's Lower East Side, circa 1840-1920. The personal histories of criminals, prostitutes, losers, and swindlers bring to life the social and statistical history that the author has meticulously researched. Not limiting himself to the usual sources, Sante finds his history in old copies of Police Gazette as well as actual police, fire, and social service records. Above all, what really makes this book work is the writing, which brings to life a culture of the streets that continues to form a silent influence on our contemporary popular culture.

From Publishers Weekly

Sante exposes the underside of Manhattan's underclass circa 1840-1919, presenting New York then as already a realm of danger and pleasure.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 480 pages
  • Publisher: Vintage (September 29, 1992)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0679738762
  • ISBN-13: 978-0679738763
  • Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #812,975 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Luc Sante
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Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York
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Customer Reviews

38 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (38 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Well written & entertaining tale of the REAL "old New York", July 10, 2001
This review is from: Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York (Paperback)
People who think that New York City reached its low point in the 1970s (or the 1980s) as the Bronx burned and crime seemed to be on every streetcorner sometimes tend to idealize the past. Perhaps it was shaped from movies from the 20s and 30s that seemed to show a simpler NYC, or maybe it was just plain misguided nostalgia.

Sante does a fantastic job of recounting the dark underbelly of New York City in the 19th and early 20th century, going into gory details about the horrible poverty along the Bowery and Lower East Side (areas that have seen extensive gentrification since the late 1980s), the filthy streets and disease outbreaks among the city's immigrant masses, the proliferation of street gangs (some of whom were representing NYC police) and other, well, "low lifes." Sante gives an engaging, well-paced description of the oft-overlooked problems a booming industrial-age city like New York was going through and boldly goes where no historian has gone before.

Required reading if you are a NYC (or urban) history fan.

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18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The closest thing to strolling down The Bowery 100 years ago, October 30, 1999
This review is from: Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York (Paperback)
Beautifully written (nice font!) All the dates, names, places, figures and facts, you'll ever need on the history of the Lower East Side. Sante puts the social, ideological, economic, and cultural characteristics of 'low-life' New York in perspective with the rest of the nation. If you enjoyed DREAMLAND or THE ALIENIST, or TIME AND AGAIN, WINTER'S TALE, and even RAGTIME, read this book as a non-fiction compliment and source for all the books hitherto mentioned. Perhaps you'll enjoy Low Life more.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The ride of your life., February 5, 2002
By rocco dormarunno (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York (Paperback)
I have read this book four times in the last ten years or so. Once for research, the last three times for entertainment. Don't let "critics", who complain that Luc Sante's sources are questionable, prevent you from reading this book. Not every detail might be EXACTLY right; even when the comments are of doubtful origin, there's no doubt that they are valuable to students, first-timers and long-timers, to the subject of New York's history. This is not a scholarly textbook and it doesn't claim to be. Sante's style, and the illustrations that pepper the book, evoke the dark world of old New York. You'll find this book to be fascinating, provocative, and, in my case, inspirational. After I read this book, I began writing my novel called THE FIVE POINTS, which has recently been published. Thank you, Mr. Sante.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Boys and Girls Together, Me and Mamie O'Rourke
This is a review of an informal history of New York's Lower East Side
covering the time from roughly 1840-1920. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Tom Without Pity

5.0 out of 5 stars Changed My Life
As a New York City resident when this book was initially published, I read every word greedily. Then, when the Lower East Side Tenement Museum was in its infancy I visited, in... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Traveling Chess Fan

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, imminently readable, & fascinating ...
I am a huge fan of historical writing, especially social history. I care about the broader political context that informs most history, but I also really want to know about the... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Caitlin Martin

4.0 out of 5 stars Essential reading for those interested in NYC History
This is a really well crafted work filled with exciting storytelling -- though these stories are factual. Hollywood really has no reason for writers with material like this. Read more
Published 13 months ago by ny history

4.0 out of 5 stars A vivid account of New York City in the 1890's
Luc Sante's "Low Life" is a vivid account of New York City around the 1890's.
Published 14 months ago by Native New Yorker

5.0 out of 5 stars The Hidden History of Manhattan
Luc Sante was born in Belgium and lives in New York City. This book has the hidden history of Manhattan from about 1840 to 1919 when a new era would change the city. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Acute Observer

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book about NYC underworld
This is a book I've read multiple times, both for the quality of the writing and an interest in the subject matter. Read more
Published 22 months ago by S. Jacobson

5.0 out of 5 stars amazing stories...
this is my THIRD copy of this book; i gave the last 2 to friends.
living in nyc, it is amazing to see what our downtown neighborhoods were like a hundred years ago... Read more
Published on April 21, 2008 by fisherKing

3.0 out of 5 stars living on the edge in NYC a century ago
Moderately interesting, if rambling and loosely edited, recounting of socially marginal individuals of various descriptions; I'd recommend "Five Points" instead
Published on March 6, 2008 by Samuel J. Mcnaughton

5.0 out of 5 stars Low Life
To simply state that Satne's Low Life is a "modern classic" and a "must read" book is to belittle what is a profoundly engulfing portrait of the greatest city in the world the... Read more
Published on February 27, 2008 by Tommy DOG

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