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Novels in New York # 34: The Gang of New York in New York


The first thing I would say is that how could it happen that this book, published in the U.S. in 1928, remained unpublished in Italy for seventy-three years.
And unfortunately I believe, with little fear of making mistakes, it would stay forever if he had not inspired the namesake movie directed by Martin Scorsese in 2002 (and filmed almost entirely in the Cinecitta studios in Rome). Ringraziando Scorsese, Leonardo Di Caprio e Cameron Diaz per aver di fatto consentito la lettura di queste pagine, passiamo ai contenuti.
Le Gang di New York (Gangs of New York) non è un romanzo vero e proprio, ma è, per usare le parole dell'autore, "un tentativo di narrare fedelmente le gesta più spettacolari del cittadino ribelle che per almeno un centinaio di anni rappresentò un pericoloso flagello per New York, sottolineandone il background di vizio povertà e corruzione politica tanto da rendere comprensibile la sua personalità".
Cento anni di gang, di storie criminali, di figure e situazioni tanto incredibili quanto vere. La ricostruzione di Herbert Asbury (1889-1963), journalist and novelist, is precise and full of charm, despite the harshness and cruelty of the themes of some characters. I cite, for example, the legendary Albert E. Hicks, convicted murderer to death, whose execution by hanging in 1860 on the island of Bedloe (which would house the Statue of Liberty ), was a true spectacle for the city, complete with a boat trip and lunch to book in advance.
And Bill the Butcher ( "Bill the Butcher" ), John Morrissey, Louie the Lamp, Kid Twist, Monk Eastman, described and presented with pictures that seem to come from the cartoons an old Dick Tracy comic .
The New York show of the century in vividly, ruthless and corrupt. Roads and places such as The Tombs (the prison), the sinister Bowery Theatre, Center Street, the neighborhood known as Five Points, Hell's Kitchen, Paradise Square, give off a sordid fascination with their history but also through the writing of Asbury: "Edward Coleman, one of gansgter originating in Paradise Square, fell in love with a girl known around the neighborhood selling the cobs as the beautiful warm. He married her after fierce fights with a dozen suitors and eventually killed when the proceeds of the wife turned out to be below expectations. "
The guide to Asbury is on time, not without irony, and cites dozens of gangs, analyze trends and rituals, explains the nicknames and tells the endless fights, crimes on a commission basis with a lot of price list distributed on the streets of the city (scarring on the cheek from 1 to $ 10, bullet in the leg 5 to $ 25 and so on. ..).
The Gang of New York is a book that can fascinate the student of the city and the curiosity of every reader. Many of the buildings and places mentioned in the book are missing or completely transformed, and this adds value to the work of Asbury, it makes a sort of guide to the disappearance of New York, New York slum, where the line between legal and illegal was confused and evanescent, with teams of firefighters to fire and plunder, criminals who dream of do the cops and cops who are criminals.
close with a note on a beautiful cover of the book reproduces that of No January 13, 1906 the magazine Bowery Boy Library . For those, like myself, is sensitive to the charm of vintage illustrations is a must a jump to this section of the site Syracuse University, where you can find many other covers of the historic weekly, published at the time by Street and Smith.
The Gang of New York, Herbert Asbury, Garzanti, 2001

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Novels # 33: A Drama Aquarius


For the city of New York the importance of a drama Aquarius (The Penguin Pool Murder) del prolifico giallista Stuart Palmer (1905-1968) va ben oltre il piacevole intreccio narrativo e il debutto letterario dell'insegnante investigatrice Hildegarde Withers, signorina agée, ironica e determinata (in pratica una zitella).
L'aspetto più interessante della vicenda, pubblicata negli USA nel 1931, è la sua ambientazione che si snoda all'interno di una delle meraviglie della Big Apple sparita: il New York Aquarium, il favoloso acquario della città inaugurato nel 1896 e realizzato all'interno delle mura di Castle Clinton, la più celebre costruzione di Battery Park , nella punta estrema della downtown di Manhattan.
L'acquario, dopo aver subito importanti modifiche 20 years, was destroyed in 1941 as a follow-urbanist project that Robert Moses wanted to make a bridge between Battery Park and Brooklyn. The project was later blocked, but now there was the Aquarium. Castle Clinton to the outer wall remains today, still characteristic point of the city, while the fish swim in a new facility in Coney Island.
In 1932 the book was made into a film directed by George Archainbaud and unprecedented in Italy, where you can admire the historic aquarium. We can do it too by clicking here . Miss Withers is a feature film starring Edna May Oliver, who will screen two more times this character.
The Aquarium was a marvel Palmer and yellow are often quite good: "The office of Mr. Bertrand B. Hemingway, director of the aquarium is on the left of the main entrance. hemicycle Located as it is formed by the body at the base of the building , is illuminated by two large windows one of which overlooks the lower Manhattan area, the other on the platform. Two glass doors put him in direct communication with the great hall of the museum. "
Miss Withers, with a lot of school children in tow, along with Inspector Piper investigates a murder in the bathtub of the Penguins. Femme fatale, stalwart lawyers, brokers, petty thieves, guards, policemen and penguins wander through the corridors, halls and baths and - apart from the penguins - Even on the streets of New York post-depression but still struggling with the troubles in the stock market crash of 1929.
Palmer defines his character well, with humor, insight and a pericolossissimo umbrella, and also fits well with other actors on particular customs and fashions of the time, providing an interesting insight into some of New York at that time: "Involuntarily Piper said that was a hard hat, but now it was deemed ridiculous at that moment in New York, all wore hard hats." The
Withers will be so successful, however, that the teacher will be the star detective of eighteen titles.
The first publication of the novel in Italy dates back to 1937 on the historical anthology series No.5 Supergiallo Mondadori, before being reprinted in 1974 in the Classics Series No. 197 dated gold (is that the image accompanying the post) and 2006.
A Drama Aquarius , Stuart Palmer, The Classic of the Yellow Mondadori n. 1107, 2006

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Novels New York # 32: Life in New York


Being a talented writer and digging in past generations of their family history of emigration is like receiving an inheritance, a legacy far more valuable than many material goods.
Melania Mazzucco, one of our most talented and award-winning authors, listen to stories of his father Robert and uncle blind Amedeo on the vicissitudes of Diamond, a boy of twelve years and years of life that has nines. The two children start in 1903 by Tufo of Minto in the province of Caserta to reach Uncle Lamb, father of the girl and the boy's uncle.
The first stage is that of American gauntlet of Ellis Island, off the island of Manhattan where immigrants were subject to strict controls, if not brutal and merciless, with the risk of being branded with an X on your back and beautiful returned home.
And here begins the epic story of the two anti-heroes of the book, and other memorable characters: Rocco, Nicola said Coca Cola, Cichitto, Lena, Jeremiah, all the streets - at the time - the most infamous of the city.
Uncle Lamb lives in Prince Street, now one of the most chic streets of Soho, and sublets for parents and relatives because "has always had a keen desire of dollars" and Life is put to work immediately: "Today, cooked Vitarelli ".
The neighborhood is marked by the boundary of Houston Street, beyond which the signs outside the local flower No Niggers, Dogs, Italians (I have to translate?).
But kids, you know, are kids, and they go around. And with their eyes, the author tells the New York of the early twentieth century from the point of view, not privileged, the Italian immigrants.
There are skyscrapers under construction, and Diamond and friends violate yards, climb and dream of reaching the top, even if only to spit it down. And discover the city, the real one, not far but it seems so far away from the "tenements".
"They passed under an arch with the inscription Macy's and entered the realm of light. Life had never seen such a place, nor would see him in later years. She would never have crossed the border to Houston Street."
Yeah. In the story, as expected, there is only wonder and adventure. Oppression, disease and death, suffering and poverty, crime, illiteracy and the difficulties of love are the themes and events discussed in a frank, but also with great humanity and a sense of "sweet crude" that on several occasions dilutes the dramatic situations without becoming dull.
And this has helped greatly to overcome my instinctive cowardice by the player who escapes from the anguish of family stories and daily life - almost always dramatic when they finish a novel - in favor of other narrative genres.
Life, written in 2003 and recently reprinted in the series "Extra" of the Rizzoli Bur (the image relates to my issue, that of 2007) uses an exhaustive search of the author, with acute observations of contemporary chapters on change in the city, letters, photographs and documents in the novel, recently reprinted in the series "Extra" Rizzoli Bur
A draft of the complex, but rigorous emotional, with the title character real and memorable (maybe because unforgettable true).
Life , Melania Mazzucco, Extra Rizzoli Bur, 2010

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Novels # 31: From the Planet of Brooklyn in New York Control


From Brooklyn to Planet Control ( The Identity Plunderers ) is an unusual novel that mixes science fiction to detective novels about two in one, with the literary challenge to unite all in a plausible way.
The bet in the end, it seems only partially won, let's say you fall into the possession of the game and maybe we will run away too a drink. The number
Urania 980 series is the first work of Isidore Haiblum , written in 1984, the year of the first Terminator , a coincidence that, read the book, you may also define non-random.
Haiblum shows a good familiarity in the management of science fiction themes such as planets ruled by humanoids, from human brain extract ("nulls"), cyborg, a man and a she escaped from a prison planet and everything else belongs to the tradition of this series of Mondadori.
The land part of the story, where the Ross Block reporter investigating a murder, it is more convincing, especially in New York and rhythm elements.
journalist living and working nella Manhattan degli anni ‘80, quando New York si stava pian piano rifacendo il look dopo la parentesi "sporca, cattiva e pericolosa" dei '70: “La baciò sul naso, si alzò, andò alla finestra. Quattro piani più sotto c’erano West Broadway e Soho, il quartiere degli artisti di Manhattan Bassa. Bar ben messi, ristoranti non ordinari, qualche boutique chic e molti portici che si facevano concorrenza per attirare l’attenzione” .
E anche Brooklyn, il luogo d’origine del protagonista, dove torna per indagare dopo molti anni, mostra il cambiamento in corso: “La Brooklyn che lui conosceva non c’era più. Niente casamenti anneriti che si affollavano on sidewalks. No clothes hanging to dry in the courtyards. Instead, there were everywhere, some tall buildings, yellow brick, much like the boxes: buildings of apartments for lower middle class. And the flyover was gone. "
The chapters alternate between setting strict galactic and subway, another with a good amount of action that keeps up the pace of the story. The writer tries to unsettle the reader with sudden gear shifts between dream, reality, memory loss and finds up to a final, not without some difficulty and repeated narrative twists, reconnect everything.
From the Planet of Brooklyn control remains an interesting experiment, a sort of fantapulpdetective memorable you who have not read with curiosity.
From Brooklyn to Planet Control , Mondadori Urania No 980, 1984