Donald L. Miller (1) (1944–)

I will always love a book that has so much new to tell me about cities. And this book tells me so much about New York that I didn't know before, even if, at the end of the day, I have a few quibbles with the sub-title. Did Jazz Age Manhattan give birth to Modern America? I'm not sure this is true. I'm not even sure I understand what is "Modern America." Is modern America defined by what goes on down on Wall Street or Midtown? Or Silicon Valley. if one stopped the clock at December 31, 1999, then maybe I would agree with the author. But modern America today is so much defined by the Puritan heritage, the religious revivial of 19th century America, by the Gilded Age, by racism, slavery, and not a little of revolutionary America. The southwest and increasingly more the remainder of America is defined by Hispanic California before the American expansion west and south. Donald Miller has brought together for me a lot of great research about Prohibition New York and for sure Prohibition had a tremendous impact on how people sought entertainment in the "Roaring Twenties," a sobriquet he never uses. Hoodlums mingled with producers and athletes, politicians and real estate developers. Tamany-controlled New York politics certainly affected who got elected, what got built and often what legislation got passed. I adored the sections on the beauty mavens of midtown, including Helena Rubenstein, Elizabeth Arden, Bergdorff & Goodman, and the Saks family. And I learned much about real estate developers, publishers, theatre and radio producers, It is a rich volume. I enjoyed it very much.… (more)