{"product_id":"low-life","title":"Low Life","description":"\u003cp\u003e“A cacophonous poem of democracy and greed, like the streets of New York themselves.”\u003cbr\u003e―John Vernon, Los Angeles Times Book Review\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLucy Sante's Low Life is a portrait of America's greatest city, the riotous and anarchic breeding ground of modernity.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is not the familiar saga of mansions, avenues, and robber barons, but the messy, turbulent, often murderous story of the city's slums; the teeming streets--scene of innumerable cons and crimes whose cramped and overcrowded housing is still a prominent feature of the cityscape.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLow Life voyages through Manhattan from four different directions. Part One examines the actual topography of Manhattan from 1840 to 1919; Part Two, the era's opportunities for vice and entertainment--theaters and saloons, opium and cocaine dens, gambling and prostitution; Part Three investigates the forces of law and order which did and didn't work to contain the illegalities; Part Four counterposes the city's tides of revolt and idealism against the city as it actually was.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLow Life provides an arresting and entertaining view of what New York was actually like in its salad days. But it's more than simply a book about New York. It's one of the most provocative books about urban life ever written--an evocation of the mythology of the quintessential modern metropolis, which has much to say not only about New York's past but about the present and future of all cities.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Tide Turners Books \u0026 More","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49252216635647,"sku":"9780374528997","price":7.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0702\/2968\/8575\/files\/9780374528997.jpg?v=1789847730","url":"https:\/\/tideturnersbooks.com\/products\/low-life","provider":"Tide Turners Books \u0026 More","version":"1.0","type":"link"}