Saint Mazie

I am not going to try to describe much about this novel, except to say that it was a big-hearted, fun, vivid read with a central character wonderfully rendered as larger than life but still believable. I love novels about loneliness and connection, family both real and constructed, and alienation. Saint Mazie has all this but it's not sad or bleak. It's about trying to make one's corner of the world a little better and understanding that sometimes that's enough, that it is okay to be fully present in what *is*, rather than always chasing more.

Attenberg's novel is inspired by the story of a real Mazie, working on the Lower East Side of New York City in the 1920s and 1930s who became a saint for the bums and the homeless, a population that increased greatly after the Stock Market Crash, and for which there was very little help. But, in other ways, Mazie is no saint! She's a drinker and smoker and likes to party. She likes plenty of men but traditional love and marriage elude her. She loses patience with Rosie, the older sister who saved her from their abusive father, but who would prefer to keep Mazie locked safely in a cage. Told mostly through Mazie's diary entries and interviews with people who knew her or knew of her, Mazie's story absolutely shines. A true broad with a show more great figure and a soft heart of gold who gave whatever she could to the men who had nothing, living in the streets of the city because "somebody loved them once, and that's all you need to know." Mazie's story is captivating with ups and downs, joys and sorrows, and Mazie's unique voice. show less

Pleasantly surprising with some depth and plot twists that were not expected. Mazie Phillips is the quintessential good-time girl in NYC in the 19-teens and twenties. The story is told through her diary and excerpts of her unpublished autobiography and interviews with a few key people with ties to her. She works for her brother-in-law, Louis, selling tickets at his movie theater, back when the ticket booth was literally a small booth ("cage" Mazie calls it)outside on the sidewalk. She sees a lot of humanity that way, along with her visits to speak-easies and love of the streets. The appeal here is her love of life -- all of it, the good and the bad. She isn't necessarily immoral, she just wants to live deeply and her whole heart is in show more it. Once the depression hits, her true colors shine and she begins looking out for the riff-raff she is so comfortable among. Louis has some shady businesses, but a heart of gold, so with his money, Mazie is able to make a difference in her small corner of the world, with the bums in the Bowery. Sister Tee, a Catholic nun is her inspiration and dear friend, but Mazie does her service more out of love and understanding than a religious motivation. Mazie's sisters Rosie and Jeannie also figure prominently in the novel -- they are ties she will never break, much like the "cage" she will never break out of. show less

Unusual concept - taking a real character from another writer's story and creating a fictional character from the original. But anyone with the monicker "Queen of the Bowery" would be an interesting study in any context. Mazie's sisters, lover, and Sister Tee, her best friend who's a nun, are almost as compelling as Mazie herself. She spends her days, during the Depression and WW II, as the cashier at the Venice Movie Theatre and her nights aiding the indigent men of the streets. As Mazie and her family move through the city, each neighborhood is described in depth through Mazie's cynical yet empathetic eyes. Especially stimulating is her blissful solo commute (not approved of for women on the time) on the opening of the subway line show more from Coney Island to Manhattan.

As personal and historical tales of the eras and the locales go, this would be one of the best. show less

mazie is delightful, flawed and interesting. i really enjoyed this new novel from attenberg. the telling of the story felt a bit fractured, given the multiple perspectives and the jumps between past and present. while this could be representative of mazie's life it did leave me slightly detached as a reader - i would get sucked right into a diary entry from mazie, only to have the moment broken by a new voice. this is a very minor quibble, though.

Using basic facts about a real New York City woman who lived during the Depression, Attenberg has created historical fiction using format of oral history to tell the story. Mazie never married, she had the same job in a movie theater for her entire working life, and yet this gritty, earthy woman impacted the lives of many of the lower east side’s homeless. She walked the streets at night looking for those she could help. A Jew, whose best friend was a Catholic nun, drank and swore, yet had a heart of gold. She was the glue that held her fragile sister together after the death of Mazie’s brother-in-law. I probably wouldn’t have liked Mazie, the author never makes her loveable, as Mazie shows her love for humanity through often show more brusque actions. show less

It’s the Jazz Age, but for every person who spends the night reveling at a speakeasy, many more spend their waking hours working but barely surviving. Prohibition and the Great Depression bring additional problems and heartache. Through it all, the brave and hardy struggle on, but in New York, in the Bowery, one woman will eventually emerge as the soul of city. Mazie Phillips, rescued by her older sister from a weary and brow-beaten mother and a cruel and despicable father, will herself become a rescuer for the homeless men who roam the streets. In this work of historical fiction, Mazie seems like an unlikely savior. She loves to party, drinks to excess, looks for love in all the wrong places, and has no qualms about speaking her show more mind. But she is generous to a fault, looks after her own, and, and in time, comes to realize that all humanity is her own. A fascinating read about a remarkable woman. show less