Justin Kaplan (1925–2014)

An excellent warts and all biography of a legend. I am most struck by what an utter shame it is that his business dealings and failures prevented him from writing so much more. He was a man of his times, though. Writing was work. He was from the Gilded Age where men struck it rich on a whim. Little did he realize what riches he had in Livy, Suzy, Clara, Jean, his friends -- Howells in particular. He lived a full rich life but he never appreciated what he had, not even his talent. An enigma.

I've heard the name Astor, of course, but really, other than hoighty-toighty New York, I knew nothing about them. What an interesting--though not very admirable--bunch. This is a biography of the family's founder, one of his sons, two of that son's three sons, and two sons from the next generation. I word it in that convoluted way because there are a whole bunch of Astors who are ignored here (all the women, plus a bunch of men). This book, written in a journalistic style, is about the power show more players from the Astor family. And it's a quick read.

The subtitle "blue bloods" is tongue in cheek--the family patriarch, John Jacob Astor (b. 1763) was a poor young immigrant from Waldorf, Germany. Obviously a smart fellow, he went from penniless to major property owner of Manhattan. By the time he died well into his 80s, his family had joined the idle rich of New York City. Most of his wealth came from collecting rents from the slums and other properties of NYC. As is common with generational family money, the subsequent generations lived in a world completely out of touch with the real world. One of his great-grandsons had a family lineage researched/created that erased their humble German beginnings and instead had them fighting crusades in Medieval Jerusalem. He also deserted the United States because of its lack of culture and after decades of shameless self-promotion, was made an English peer. Unlike other wealthy families in New York who in some way gave back to the people of the city (for example, Carnegie), the Astors used their money only to make more money for themselves.

The two branches of the family tree did not get along, yet somehow they coordinated to become the creators of the American luxury hotel, and collaborated on the Waldorf-Astoria (the current hotel in NYC with that name, btw, has no connection to the family). Over the years, they built many high-end hotels in New York City, but today all of them are gone except the St. Regis.

Some reviewers here at LT commented that they were looking for more, or expected it to tie together better, and I see what they mean; however, it's a biography, not fiction. Sometimes the facts will only work themselves together along certain paths, and there isn't much an author can do about it. My complaint about the book is all the left out people--including the current generation of Astors. show less

I’m a historical voyeur. I enjoy looking back and seeing the way that people used to live in all walks of life. And of course a peak into the uber-rich’s lifestyle is always interesting. That is what drew my attention to this book.

If you’re interested in historical New York hotels, why they were built, why they were destroyed, and a very little detail about the goings-ons in them back in the day, this book might almost be for you. If you are interested in ritzy New York generally from show more about 100-125 years ago, this book is not for you. I guess I just didn’t take the author’s title literally enough. I guess at one point the Astor family owned a not inconsequential chunk of Manhattan. And that is all that this book is about–oh, with a little sibling rivalry built in so that we leave New York for a few pages to visit England. Otherwise, it’s about the Astor family’s acquisition of property and pissing match as to who could build the biggest, most ostentatious hotel.

My historical life-and-times voyeurism was not fed. The end. show less

This book about the Astors primarily deals with their hotel interests in New York. Yes, there's a bit of society for those interested in the "Gilded Age" happenings, but it's mostly a business book. I enjoyed learning a bit about the Astor hotels, as well as reacquainting myself with the John Jacob Astor/William Waldorf Astor feud.

However, there's nothing here that other more fleshed out and encompassing books haven't covered before. This would be for someone looking for a broad overview of show more the Astors. show less