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The Devil's Playground : A Century of Pleasure and Profit in Times Square
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Binding: Hardcover
Edition: 1st
Format: Bargain Price
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 336
Publication Date: March 16, 2004
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Editorial Review:
As Times Square turns 100, New York Times Magazine contributing writer James Traub tells the story of how this mercurial district became one of the most famous and exciting places in the world. The Devil’s Playground is classic and colorful American history, from the first years of the twentieth century through the Runyonesque heyday of nightclubs and theaters in the 1920s and ’30s, to the district’s decline in the 1960s and its glittering corporate revival in the 1990s. First, Traub gives us the great impresarios, wits, tunesmiths, newspaper columnists, and nocturnal creatures who shaped Times Square over the century since the place first got its name: Oscar Hammerstein, Florenz Ziegfeld, George S. Kaufman, Damon Runyon, Walter Winchell, and “the Queen of the Nightclubs,” Texas Guinan; bards like A. J. Liebling, Joe Mitchell, and the Beats, who celebrated the drug dealers and pimps of 42nd Street. He describes Times Square’s notorious collapse into pathology and the fierce debates over how best to restore it to life.Traub then goes on to scrutinize today’s Times Square as no author has yet done. He writes about the new 42nd Street, the giant Toys “R” Us store with its flashing Ferris wheel, the new world of corporate theater, and the sex shops trying to leave their history behind.
More than sixty years ago, Liebling called Times Square “the heart of the world”—not just the center of the world, though this crossroads in Midtown Manhattan was indeed that, but its heart. From the dawn of the twentieth century through the 1950s, Times Square was the whirling dynamo of American popular culture and, increasingly, an urban sanctuary for the eccentric and the untamed. The name itself became emblematic of the tremendous life force of cities everywhere.Today, Times Square is once again an awe-inspiring place, but the dark and strange corners have been filled with blazing light. The most famous street character on Broadway, “the Naked Cowboy,” has his own website, and Toys “R” Us calls its flagship store in Times Square “the toy center of the universe.” For the giant entertainment corporations that have moved to this safe, clean, and self-consciously gaudy spot, Times Square is still very much the center of the world. But is it still the heart?
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Times Square from an historic perspective.
James Traub certainly paid tribute to one of New York's prime attractions,Times Square. If you ever wanted to read the history and get acquainted with its past then this book has it all. Fascinating read from cover to cover with vintage Times Square pictures. Good work by Mr. Traub!!
Rating:  - TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT
THE PROBLEM WITH THIS BOOK IS THAT I EXPECTED IT TO BE ABOUT THE HISTORY OF TIMES SQUARE BUT IT BECAME TOO MUCH A BOOK ABOUT THE HISTORY OF BROADWAY, THE SHOWS AND THE ACTORS. MAYBE TO THE WRITER THEY'RE ONE AND THE SAME. ALSO, THE WRITER IS FROM THE NY TIMES AND HE WRITES WITH THAT UPPITY ATTITUDE AND LANGUAGE THAT ONE COMES TO EXPECT FROM THAT NEWSPAPER. IT USUALLY TAKES ME DAYS TO READ A BOOK OF THIS SIZE. THIS BOOK TOOK ME WEEKS BECAUSE IT LOST MY INTEREST. THERE WERE SOME INTERESTING PARTS ... Read More
Rating: - Well Done
This book really captures the characters, glamour, degradation and rebirth of Times Square since it's beginnings in a very entertaining and informative way. The story is weaved together wonderfully incorporating social, political , cultural and architectural details in a lively narrative that was a pleasure to read. From the Lobster Palaces to Flo Ziegfield to the speakeasys of the 20's to Irving Berlin to the tawdry porno theaters and massage parlors of the 70's to todays tourist mecca....it's all here. ... Read More
Rating:  - Times Square deserves a more exciting book
Growing up in the early 70's in a smallish town, I was well aware of what would happen to any small town girl lured to New York City to seek her fame and fortune. If you dared climb down from that Greyhound bus you would be immediately sucked into the tawdry and dangerous underbelly of New York, never to escape.
During the early 1900's Times' Square was the center of the
city's nightlife. Vaudeville,theaters,speakeasies,nightclubs, the area was covered and celebrated in print,plays and movies. ... Read More
Rating: - Where every night is New Year's Eve
James Traub's wonderful book, "The Devil's Playground : A Century of Pleasure and Profit in Times Square" will provide readers with a comprehensive look at what was once the crossroads of the world. Scholarly without being dull, authoritative without being smug, Traub vividly portrays the rise, fall, and ambivalent revival of the world's center of amusement and advertising. I say "ambivalent" not because I disapprove of the transition which took place in the 1990s (anyone nostalgic for the ... Read More
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