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Down 42nd Street: Sex, Money, Culture, and Politics at the Crossroads of the World
List Price: $27.95Price: $5.00 You Save: $22.95 (82%)Prices subject to change.
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 974.71
EAN: 9780446525718
ISBN: 0446525715
Label: Warner Books
Manufacturer: Warner Books
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 352
Publication Date: November 19, 2001
Publisher: Warner Books
Studio: Warner Books
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Editorial Review:
In Down 42nd Street, Marc Eliot offers a fascinating and pugnacious history of what may be the most famous street in the United States--or at least the most famously decadent one. "By 1980, [New York's] fabled Manhattan crossroads had become ground zero for the manufacture, exhibition, and distribution of pornography, drug dealing, pedophilia, prostitution, and violent street crime," he writes. Eliot describes 42nd Street's development over time, and he's not afraid to go after a few sacred cows. Here's what he says about the "greatest generation" right after the Second World War: "GIs returning to the U.S. via New York City's harbors and ports were point men in the postwar sex and drug revolution." Today, of course, 42nd Street is a very different place, thanks to a conscious cleanup effort that has brought in Disney and other corporations. Eliot views this trend with a distaste that other may not feel: by the end of the 20th century, he notes with irritation, "42nd Street had become a horizontal Statue of Liberty, a place native New Yorkers avoided like Yellow Fever." All in all, Down 42nd Street is an excellent piece of opinionated urban history told with verve. --John Miller
Down 42nd Street brings to vivid life the fascinating stories embedded in more than two centuries of cobblestone and pavement. Packed with the unforgettable characters who once walked the street, including the famous, the notorious, the entrepreneurial, and the depraved, this colourful social history is a must for everyone who loves New York.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - unreadable drivel
After being enthralled by Luc Sante's "Low Life" (The best NYC history ever written) I'd hoped perhaps for some gems of storytelling about this street's amazing past, but all I found were tedious commentaries with all the style and allure of a real estate listing.
It's hard to believe that this author has received acclaim for other writings, as the style is devoid of any vibrancy that would compel me to complete even a paragraph at a time without groaning from the effort.
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Rating:  - I should have known
Considering 42nd Street runs East/West and not Uptown/Downtown, I should have known from Mr. Eliot's title that I would be in for a book that was not particular about details. And I would've been right. Like the street it depicts, DOWN 42nd is cluttered, splashy, and filled with materials that aren't the genuine article. I won't rehash the historical and typographical errors that other reviewers have pointed out. The book has its share of flawed research, and let's leave it at that.
On the plus ... Read More
Rating:  - Fascinating Topic, Very Mediocre Book.
Although the topic automatically makes the book interesting for those interested in NYC and general American urban history, reading this underachieving work made it easy to see why I found it in the bargain bin (on 42nd Street, no less).
Many factual mistakes and half-truths are apparent to the casual reader, and I shudder to think what an "expert" on the subject would think. Also, the proofreading is bad, with many typos, and the photographs are generally of such poor quality that they ... Read More
Rating: - From cattle trail to pedestrian mall
My native skepticism makes me distrust about one third of what I read in this highly engaging page-turner. And I suspect a careful historian or a reader who cared enough to do a little investigative research could catch author Marc Eliot on a number of factual and interpretive errors. Even so, DOWN 42ND STREET was a fun read. One of Eliot's most delicious vices is his ability to draw (nearly libelous) caricatures of many of the key players in New York's history, most notably its mayors. (For instance, this ... Read More
Rating: - Caveat Emptor: Enjoyable But Flawed
"Down 42nd Street" is a path I walk five days a week. It has been enjoyable to watch the stunning metamorphosis of this grand boulevard over the past decade or so. It was, therefore, with eager anticipation that I picked up this new history of 42nd Street.
On one level, it was an enjoyable read, offering illuminating anecdotes such as the encampment of George Washington's troops on the grounds of what is now the New York Public Library during the pivotal Battle of New York. In the 19th Century, the site ... Read More
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