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The Village: 400 Years of Beats and Bohemians, Radicals and Rogues
Cultural commentator John Strausbaugh's The Village is the first complete history of Greenwich Village, the prodigiously influential and infamous New York City neighborhood.
From the Dutch settlers and Washington Square patricians, to the Triangle Shirtwaist fire and Prohibition-era speakeasies; from Abstract Expressionism and beatniks, to Stonewall and AIDS, the connecting narratives of The Village tell the story of America itself.
Illustrated with historic black-and-white photographs, The Village features lively, well-researched profiles of many of the people who made Greenwich Village famous, including Thomas Paine, Walt Whitman, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Mark Twain, Margaret Sanger, Eugene O’Neill, Marcel Duchamp, Upton Sinclair, Willa Cather, Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Jackson Pollock, Anais Nin, Edward Albee, Charlie Parker, W. H. Auden, Woody Guthrie, James Baldwin, Maurice Sendak, E. E. Cummings, and Bob Dylan.
From the Dutch settlers and Washington Square patricians, to the Triangle Shirtwaist fire and Prohibition-era speakeasies; from Abstract Expressionism and beatniks, to Stonewall and AIDS, the connecting narratives of The Village tell the story of America itself.
Illustrated with historic black-and-white photographs, The Village features lively, well-researched profiles of many of the people who made Greenwich Village famous, including Thomas Paine, Walt Whitman, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Mark Twain, Margaret Sanger, Eugene O’Neill, Marcel Duchamp, Upton Sinclair, Willa Cather, Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Jackson Pollock, Anais Nin, Edward Albee, Charlie Parker, W. H. Auden, Woody Guthrie, James Baldwin, Maurice Sendak, E. E. Cummings, and Bob Dylan.
640 pages, Hardcover
First published March 28, 2013
273 people are currently reading
1806 people want to read
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September 1, 2015
UPDATE (July 14, 2013): Just finished the book. The last time 550 pages were this compelling was when I read Randy Shiltz' AND THE BAND PLAYED ON, about the history of the AIDS crisis.
That topic occupies only one small chapter toward the end of THE VILLAGE, but the author has patiently documented the entire 200-year history of this neighborhood with exacting research to show the outsider history of the artist/writer/musician/drinker/hustler residents throughout each era.
By the time we reach the mid-eighties, New York is in crisis, and Society's (President Reagan/Mayor Koch) priorities are focused on real estate, tourism, and respectability. The fate of gay men dying of AIDS in decrepit waterfront outlying areas, not to mention the preservation of a creative environment, are steamrollered by more powerful economic vehicles.
In most biographies and histories, the end of the book signals an anti-climax. The best years of the characters are behind them; what is left is sadness, loss, and nostalgia.
There is a element of that in this story of Greenwich Village (and the East- and West-Villages), yet Strausbaugh has written an elegant tale that I consider breathtaking. His research skills and determination are grand. Perhaps this is also a reflection of his first-person knowledge of the context of the Village. His ability to mention less-er known figures, for instance, in gay history, such as the musician Michael Callen who pioneered safer-sex standards, and the feminist poet Audre Lorde, as well as the lesbian icon, Alix Dobkin gave me a point of identification. While his references were brief, they were accurate.
Other notes that he struck, such as recurring quotes from the composer David Amran, the political history of Ed Koch, and even the fact that folk singer Dave van Ronk stepped in and got arrested during the Stonewall Riots (despite the fact that he was not gay, and was just investigating the hubbub from the pub across the street) increase the richness of this account, and give the reader an incentive to explore various avenues further in other books.
Reading this book was a milestone in my personal education.
Final note: In subsequent editions, Editors, please include a MAP of the Village!
______________________________________________________________________________
My initial comments (June 2013):
Fascinating book. I am only up to page 100. Already it has led me to the 1955 movie, MY SISTER EILEEN, in the credits of which I learn that "Robert Fosse" is none other than Bob Fosse. (and watching Janet Leigh and the other cast members dance, I recognize his choreography immediately! Twenty years before CABARET made him a household word.)
Other revelations: In 1917, the Village was already suffering gentrification. The description could have been written today in any city in America. Impecunious bohemians/artists/writers establish the flavor of a neighborhood, drawn there by cheap rents, coexisting with other low-rent types in squalor. They attract the attention of bourgeois/yuppie wanna-bees, who are attracted by the authenticity of the architecture and the association with famous or infamous personalities. They drive up the prices, and cause builders to raze old historic buildings to create new upper crust residences. My goodness, I had no idea this was happening in 1917!
The description of the emigration to Paris during this period is so interesting. The core of the creative types, priced out by the bourgeois (proto-yuppies) to Paris, where post-WWI economy was favorable to American dollars explains how these Village low-rents could afford to live in Paris.
This book is so rich in explanations for trends we have all heard about, but the detail is such a revelation.
*****
Okay, now I'm up to page 400. The book remains as fascinating as it did 300 pages ago. It has led me to another movie: Roger Corman's 1959 BUCKET OF BLOOD, a noir story with a satirical depiction of artists and intellectuals hanging out in a late-50s-era beatnik coffee house. The book laments the touristication of the Village, in which black-turtle-neck-beret-wearing suburban young adults show up in Village coffee houses (after obtaining this dress code from some published manual), and have trouble feeling that the true locals are authentic, since they don't conform to the characature.
I think the most interesting part for me was the recurring references to David Amram, whose name I remember from the 1960s when Leonard Bernstein was so much in the news for making classical music relevant to young people. Apparently Amram was way out there! (He wrote the score for the movie THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE.)
The other conclusion I am drawing is that what people my age know about the Village (references to the folk music revival of the 1960s and the emergence of Bob Dylan) are so tip-of-the-ice-berg! There was so much other radical stuff going on, left over from the 40s and 50s, such as theater, art, philosophy, and of course, alcoholism.
It really is unfortunate, as another commentor wrote, that the author did not include at least one map, considering all the detailed geography being mentioned. If I ever felt that I had a sense of direction, reading this book has completely discombobled it.
In spite of that, this is just an exhaustively researched work, written with a suitable detachment that just thinly conceals the author's affinity with the gay community; just enough to convince the reader that he most likely understands what he is documenting.
Great book.
That topic occupies only one small chapter toward the end of THE VILLAGE, but the author has patiently documented the entire 200-year history of this neighborhood with exacting research to show the outsider history of the artist/writer/musician/drinker/hustler residents throughout each era.
By the time we reach the mid-eighties, New York is in crisis, and Society's (President Reagan/Mayor Koch) priorities are focused on real estate, tourism, and respectability. The fate of gay men dying of AIDS in decrepit waterfront outlying areas, not to mention the preservation of a creative environment, are steamrollered by more powerful economic vehicles.
In most biographies and histories, the end of the book signals an anti-climax. The best years of the characters are behind them; what is left is sadness, loss, and nostalgia.
There is a element of that in this story of Greenwich Village (and the East- and West-Villages), yet Strausbaugh has written an elegant tale that I consider breathtaking. His research skills and determination are grand. Perhaps this is also a reflection of his first-person knowledge of the context of the Village. His ability to mention less-er known figures, for instance, in gay history, such as the musician Michael Callen who pioneered safer-sex standards, and the feminist poet Audre Lorde, as well as the lesbian icon, Alix Dobkin gave me a point of identification. While his references were brief, they were accurate.
Other notes that he struck, such as recurring quotes from the composer David Amran, the political history of Ed Koch, and even the fact that folk singer Dave van Ronk stepped in and got arrested during the Stonewall Riots (despite the fact that he was not gay, and was just investigating the hubbub from the pub across the street) increase the richness of this account, and give the reader an incentive to explore various avenues further in other books.
Reading this book was a milestone in my personal education.
Final note: In subsequent editions, Editors, please include a MAP of the Village!
______________________________________________________________________________
My initial comments (June 2013):
Fascinating book. I am only up to page 100. Already it has led me to the 1955 movie, MY SISTER EILEEN, in the credits of which I learn that "Robert Fosse" is none other than Bob Fosse. (and watching Janet Leigh and the other cast members dance, I recognize his choreography immediately! Twenty years before CABARET made him a household word.)
Other revelations: In 1917, the Village was already suffering gentrification. The description could have been written today in any city in America. Impecunious bohemians/artists/writers establish the flavor of a neighborhood, drawn there by cheap rents, coexisting with other low-rent types in squalor. They attract the attention of bourgeois/yuppie wanna-bees, who are attracted by the authenticity of the architecture and the association with famous or infamous personalities. They drive up the prices, and cause builders to raze old historic buildings to create new upper crust residences. My goodness, I had no idea this was happening in 1917!
The description of the emigration to Paris during this period is so interesting. The core of the creative types, priced out by the bourgeois (proto-yuppies) to Paris, where post-WWI economy was favorable to American dollars explains how these Village low-rents could afford to live in Paris.
This book is so rich in explanations for trends we have all heard about, but the detail is such a revelation.
*****
Okay, now I'm up to page 400. The book remains as fascinating as it did 300 pages ago. It has led me to another movie: Roger Corman's 1959 BUCKET OF BLOOD, a noir story with a satirical depiction of artists and intellectuals hanging out in a late-50s-era beatnik coffee house. The book laments the touristication of the Village, in which black-turtle-neck-beret-wearing suburban young adults show up in Village coffee houses (after obtaining this dress code from some published manual), and have trouble feeling that the true locals are authentic, since they don't conform to the characature.
I think the most interesting part for me was the recurring references to David Amram, whose name I remember from the 1960s when Leonard Bernstein was so much in the news for making classical music relevant to young people. Apparently Amram was way out there! (He wrote the score for the movie THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE.)
The other conclusion I am drawing is that what people my age know about the Village (references to the folk music revival of the 1960s and the emergence of Bob Dylan) are so tip-of-the-ice-berg! There was so much other radical stuff going on, left over from the 40s and 50s, such as theater, art, philosophy, and of course, alcoholism.
It really is unfortunate, as another commentor wrote, that the author did not include at least one map, considering all the detailed geography being mentioned. If I ever felt that I had a sense of direction, reading this book has completely discombobled it.
In spite of that, this is just an exhaustively researched work, written with a suitable detachment that just thinly conceals the author's affinity with the gay community; just enough to convince the reader that he most likely understands what he is documenting.
Great book.
February 7, 2015
(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)
Like most people, I've always primarily associated the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan with the Abstract Expressionists and Beat poets of the post-World-War-Two era, when the near-total destruction of Europe made this unassuming neighborhood the new global center of hipness and cool, a literal symbol of the worldwide cultural takeover the United States pulled off in general in the 1950s; but as John Strausbaugh shows in his remarkable new 600-page history of the neighborhood, Greenwich Village's bohemian roots actually go all the way back to the birth of Romanticism in the early 1800s and the invention of the term "bohemian" to begin with, and that this loosely defined confederation of "old New York" streets has been a constant haven for artists, druggies, the gay community and intellectual minorities ever since, not just in the years that it was known world-wide for this. Originally a sleepy suburb of New York City proper (thus the "Village" designation that has stuck with it ever since), it just so happened that this was the hot growing neighborhood for middle-class businessmen and their artist friends back in the early 1800s when the "bohemian class" was first invented, essentially a construct of the Romantic Era that redefined artists from hard-working craftsmen into tortured souls who suffered for aesthetics' sake; and so it was to this neighborhood that the first generation of bohemians turned when doing their suffering and drinking and casual sex, with Strausbaugh painting an enviable portrait of a sweaty, smoky Victorian-Age Greenwich populated by the nation's first gay bars and opium dens, visited on a regular basis by such stalwarts as Walt Whitman and Stephen Crane. And that's the way the neighborhood essentially continued without a break for the next 150 years, with Strausbaugh devoting large and detailed sections of his exhaustive book to the turn of the century and the rise of the great New York art museums; the Village after World War One when it became essentially the "Left Bank Lite;" its mainstream heyday in the World War Two era; and its last hurrah as a locus for gay rights in the 1960s and '70s, before massive gentrification in the '80s and '90s turned it into a permanent upper-class historical district that artists can no longer afford to live in. Smart and accessible, and full of literally hundreds of anecdotes about its most infamous citizens of the last two centuries, Strausbaugh's book is an epic read but a hugely rewarding one, and it comes strongly recommended to anyone interested in knowing more about the history of artistic neighborhoods in the United States.
Out of 10: 9.7
Like most people, I've always primarily associated the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan with the Abstract Expressionists and Beat poets of the post-World-War-Two era, when the near-total destruction of Europe made this unassuming neighborhood the new global center of hipness and cool, a literal symbol of the worldwide cultural takeover the United States pulled off in general in the 1950s; but as John Strausbaugh shows in his remarkable new 600-page history of the neighborhood, Greenwich Village's bohemian roots actually go all the way back to the birth of Romanticism in the early 1800s and the invention of the term "bohemian" to begin with, and that this loosely defined confederation of "old New York" streets has been a constant haven for artists, druggies, the gay community and intellectual minorities ever since, not just in the years that it was known world-wide for this. Originally a sleepy suburb of New York City proper (thus the "Village" designation that has stuck with it ever since), it just so happened that this was the hot growing neighborhood for middle-class businessmen and their artist friends back in the early 1800s when the "bohemian class" was first invented, essentially a construct of the Romantic Era that redefined artists from hard-working craftsmen into tortured souls who suffered for aesthetics' sake; and so it was to this neighborhood that the first generation of bohemians turned when doing their suffering and drinking and casual sex, with Strausbaugh painting an enviable portrait of a sweaty, smoky Victorian-Age Greenwich populated by the nation's first gay bars and opium dens, visited on a regular basis by such stalwarts as Walt Whitman and Stephen Crane. And that's the way the neighborhood essentially continued without a break for the next 150 years, with Strausbaugh devoting large and detailed sections of his exhaustive book to the turn of the century and the rise of the great New York art museums; the Village after World War One when it became essentially the "Left Bank Lite;" its mainstream heyday in the World War Two era; and its last hurrah as a locus for gay rights in the 1960s and '70s, before massive gentrification in the '80s and '90s turned it into a permanent upper-class historical district that artists can no longer afford to live in. Smart and accessible, and full of literally hundreds of anecdotes about its most infamous citizens of the last two centuries, Strausbaugh's book is an epic read but a hugely rewarding one, and it comes strongly recommended to anyone interested in knowing more about the history of artistic neighborhoods in the United States.
Out of 10: 9.7
Want to read
July 21, 2021sale thru 2 August
February 11, 2019
Long history (400 years, it's in the title.) My only minor quibble with this book is the author tries to squeeze so much information into the book that he skims over parts that I would like to have learned more about.
August 15, 2016
This is an incredibly detailed history of one neighbourhood, but also a broad political and social history of New York in general.
I always said if I could live anywhere at any time it would be Greenwich Village in the 60s, but after reading this book I'm not so sure. There were a lot of things happening, and it was a great place and time for creativity but there was also a downside that ran through the village during every decade which John Strasbaugh explores brilliantly in this book. He manages to capture the many contradictions of the neighbourhood throughout it's history and offers up a fair portrayal of all sorts of characters that graces its streets.
Well worth a read, and at the end of it you'll be hard pushed not to feel nostalgic about Greenwich Village in days gone by.
I always said if I could live anywhere at any time it would be Greenwich Village in the 60s, but after reading this book I'm not so sure. There were a lot of things happening, and it was a great place and time for creativity but there was also a downside that ran through the village during every decade which John Strasbaugh explores brilliantly in this book. He manages to capture the many contradictions of the neighbourhood throughout it's history and offers up a fair portrayal of all sorts of characters that graces its streets.
Well worth a read, and at the end of it you'll be hard pushed not to feel nostalgic about Greenwich Village in days gone by.
October 18, 2015
The definitive history of Greenwich Village, from the rural hills outside New Amsterdam to the capital of American bohemianism to the epicenter of the AIDS crisis. Fascinating material, great writing, and brisk pacing that includes good details while moving quickly enough to get through 400 years in about as many pages. Highly recommended for anyone who has lived in, visited, or wanted to know the Village.
March 16, 2017
Wonderfully evocative history of the creative cauldron that was/is Greenwich Village from the 1600s to today. From the original Dutch to Dylan, and on. Bohemians, artists, writers, performers, and Salon supporters flocked to this corner of Manhattan. Inspiring!
April 5, 2022
From the Dutch to the Ramones everyone you could possibly be interested in is in these pages. It's a great and gossipy tome. I loved it!
May 17, 2025
This book sucked.
Tragically, it is just old enough to make it overwhelmingly clear how much the conversation about some things has shifted in the last 15 years in American society, and is therefore an interesting book despite being really, really poorly written.
Before we get to the interesting bits, however, let's talk about attribution. This book amounts to essentially about 300 vignettes of people who lived in Greenwich Village, mostly from around 1900 on. Some of these are names many people would be familiar with, but the vast majority are individuals who history has simply not had time in her schedule to relegate to niche obscurity. These individuals are displayed as the ever-shifting nexus of cultural creation in the United States.
Let it first be said that I love New York, and I love it all the more for having chosen it rather than having been placed here by happenstance. I love the thrum of vitality in the city, and the fact that there is most certainly a "here" here. But let it also be said that anyone working the thesis that a specific place at any time is the "cultural engine" of an entire nation perforce has to exclude the vast amounts of culture being generated outside that little space. Greenwich Village, no matter how many times Bob Dylan passed through, was always just the generative space for a couple strains of "counter"-culture, not all culture everywhere. You get the impression, and more than the impression, from these vignettes that the Village didn't really participate in any leading way in the Civil Rights Movement, whose cultural influence is at least on par with any of the Beats, hippies, or other assorted cultures that incubated there. The myopic view of the Village as the genesis of American "culture", especially in the last half of the 20th century, betrays an unfamiliarity with the nation and a subtle rejection of the pluralism that makes New York such a gem.
Now that that's out of the way, we can go on to the interesting bits.
I don't know exactly how or in what terms Marsha P. Johnson would be described today, but I have the feeling that there would be wide sections of the under 40 crowd who would probably balk at the words used here. That's not to say in any way that Strausbaugh has the sense of bigotry about him, just an observation, which mirrors his own, that the conversation about these identities is not set in any meaningful way and that "current" conversants must beware lest they become passé.
This is more interesting when applied to Strausbaugh's writings about Irish and Italian individuals, who make up what a more egalitarian-minded writer might term "the people who actually lived in the neighborhood." There are more instances of this than can be shared here, but describing one individual as a "combustible mix of Irish and Italian" (paraphrasing) is a fascinating choice, especially when placed next to his (correct) instinct to not portray black individuals in an essentialist mode based on race.
The final interesting piece from Strausbaugh was his implicit but strong connection between the sexually libertine attitude in the gay Village leading up to the AIDS epidemic. He does not directly say it, but does paint a picture that inevitably leads readers to consider whether the temporal juxtaposition of these events was more than coincidence. It's an interesting stance to half-take for someone writing social history nearly 25 years after the success of And The Band Played On and the subsequent fairly wide cultural belief that the AIDS pandemic was caused by governmental and social neglect, since it's an idea that would seem more at home in heavily couched academic language at a serious public health conference. One wonders if this is an inherited attitude from the actual gay community during the pandemic, which Strausbaugh documents, or if in an era where billions are spent annually by a slew of governmental organizations to research and prevent the disease this is now the "radical" opinion once more.
All in all, I will never get the time I spent reading this book back, and do not recommend it to anyone. Especially irksome, besides all the petty crime, broken homes, and genuine unlikeability of most of the individuals portrayed here is the reflex for those who remain to bemoan "how the neighborhood has changed". This isn't unique to New Yorkers, but there is a certain bizarreness to nostalgia for a time and place when the mob ruled, cops were on the take, everything was dirty, and getting mugged was just part of life. If you wanted your neighborhood to stay like that, it feels like there are some pretty simple steps you could take to ensure its continuity.
Things sure have changed since 2011 though!
Tragically, it is just old enough to make it overwhelmingly clear how much the conversation about some things has shifted in the last 15 years in American society, and is therefore an interesting book despite being really, really poorly written.
Before we get to the interesting bits, however, let's talk about attribution. This book amounts to essentially about 300 vignettes of people who lived in Greenwich Village, mostly from around 1900 on. Some of these are names many people would be familiar with, but the vast majority are individuals who history has simply not had time in her schedule to relegate to niche obscurity. These individuals are displayed as the ever-shifting nexus of cultural creation in the United States.
Let it first be said that I love New York, and I love it all the more for having chosen it rather than having been placed here by happenstance. I love the thrum of vitality in the city, and the fact that there is most certainly a "here" here. But let it also be said that anyone working the thesis that a specific place at any time is the "cultural engine" of an entire nation perforce has to exclude the vast amounts of culture being generated outside that little space. Greenwich Village, no matter how many times Bob Dylan passed through, was always just the generative space for a couple strains of "counter"-culture, not all culture everywhere. You get the impression, and more than the impression, from these vignettes that the Village didn't really participate in any leading way in the Civil Rights Movement, whose cultural influence is at least on par with any of the Beats, hippies, or other assorted cultures that incubated there. The myopic view of the Village as the genesis of American "culture", especially in the last half of the 20th century, betrays an unfamiliarity with the nation and a subtle rejection of the pluralism that makes New York such a gem.
Now that that's out of the way, we can go on to the interesting bits.
I don't know exactly how or in what terms Marsha P. Johnson would be described today, but I have the feeling that there would be wide sections of the under 40 crowd who would probably balk at the words used here. That's not to say in any way that Strausbaugh has the sense of bigotry about him, just an observation, which mirrors his own, that the conversation about these identities is not set in any meaningful way and that "current" conversants must beware lest they become passé.
This is more interesting when applied to Strausbaugh's writings about Irish and Italian individuals, who make up what a more egalitarian-minded writer might term "the people who actually lived in the neighborhood." There are more instances of this than can be shared here, but describing one individual as a "combustible mix of Irish and Italian" (paraphrasing) is a fascinating choice, especially when placed next to his (correct) instinct to not portray black individuals in an essentialist mode based on race.
The final interesting piece from Strausbaugh was his implicit but strong connection between the sexually libertine attitude in the gay Village leading up to the AIDS epidemic. He does not directly say it, but does paint a picture that inevitably leads readers to consider whether the temporal juxtaposition of these events was more than coincidence. It's an interesting stance to half-take for someone writing social history nearly 25 years after the success of And The Band Played On and the subsequent fairly wide cultural belief that the AIDS pandemic was caused by governmental and social neglect, since it's an idea that would seem more at home in heavily couched academic language at a serious public health conference. One wonders if this is an inherited attitude from the actual gay community during the pandemic, which Strausbaugh documents, or if in an era where billions are spent annually by a slew of governmental organizations to research and prevent the disease this is now the "radical" opinion once more.
All in all, I will never get the time I spent reading this book back, and do not recommend it to anyone. Especially irksome, besides all the petty crime, broken homes, and genuine unlikeability of most of the individuals portrayed here is the reflex for those who remain to bemoan "how the neighborhood has changed". This isn't unique to New Yorkers, but there is a certain bizarreness to nostalgia for a time and place when the mob ruled, cops were on the take, everything was dirty, and getting mugged was just part of life. If you wanted your neighborhood to stay like that, it feels like there are some pretty simple steps you could take to ensure its continuity.
Things sure have changed since 2011 though!
August 31, 2025
This book explores the history of Greenwich Village, which turns out to be intricately connected with the history of the city, the country, and world events. I really loved getting to see the different events and characters that have shaped a part of the city I’ve spent so much of my time in. Now, when I cross a street or see a specific building or park, I can see not only their present but the many different iterations they’ve had in the past. The book helped me to develop a better sense of place in New York that’s rooted in its history of both change and social struggle.
I’ll note, however, that the title is a bit of a misnomer. The book doesn’t fairly cover 400 years— it spends a few pages on the 1600/1700’s, about a hundred pages on the 1800’s, and 400+ pages on the 1900’s. So it’s really primarily a history of the last century. I also wish we had a brief bibliography of the characters named, as the author assumes the reader to have some level of familiarity with the cast of famous people the book studies.
I’ll note, however, that the title is a bit of a misnomer. The book doesn’t fairly cover 400 years— it spends a few pages on the 1600/1700’s, about a hundred pages on the 1800’s, and 400+ pages on the 1900’s. So it’s really primarily a history of the last century. I also wish we had a brief bibliography of the characters named, as the author assumes the reader to have some level of familiarity with the cast of famous people the book studies.
April 19, 2024
The author said that William Friedkin's Cruising isn't a good movie, so I can't in good conscious give this 5 stars.
A fun, easy to read micro history of Greenwich Village filled with interesting folks. Greenwich Village is one of those places, for me at least, that I'll always be sad I didn't get to experience in its heyday (which could be anywhere from the 20s to the late 70s).
A fun, easy to read micro history of Greenwich Village filled with interesting folks. Greenwich Village is one of those places, for me at least, that I'll always be sad I didn't get to experience in its heyday (which could be anywhere from the 20s to the late 70s).
July 15, 2014
John Strausbaugh's account of the history of Greenwich Village is terrific. Starting from the beginning, when the city was first settled by colonizers, Straussbaugh describes the nature of the Village as a place where those who did not fit in anywhere went to belong. While the Village has known so many different and unique scenes and movements throughout the centuries, the nature of the village as the place for those who don't belong anywhere else has continued for over 400 years.
The historical accounts of what happened in the Village are truly amazing. Strausbaugh takes you through historical time periods and describes the Village's geography, and more importantly, who the people were, throughout history. He goes into some detail about how African former slaves were allowed to farm their own plots (but really as a first line of defense in case there were Indian attacks), about the different waves of immigration that came into the neighborhood, and how different industries, peoples, and movements all took root here.
He provides a very interesting background into the mafia's involvement in the Village for many decades, and discusses the important, and not necessarily positive, role the mob played in allowing certain scenes and movements to unfold, but also the problems that came with it. He also provides great background into the different art, philosophical, poetic, musical, and political movements that all found their base in the village.
The biggest weakness of this book is how overly comprehensive it is. Since so much occurred in the Village, Straussbaugh felt the need to comment on ALL of it, which tended to get a bit tiresome. He introduces you to hundreds of different people throughout this account, and it gets problematic because it is next to impossible to remember who anyone is. He didn't bother to provide a key of different people from different places, which could have been helpful. Instead anytime I came across a name that he throws back in, but never mentions for several chapters, I found myself having to go back and reread earlier segments. The effect of this is to provide an account that is rather cacophonous.
But the details and the history of the different movements are incredible. More than anything, Strausbaugh truly humanizes some of the larger than life characters who dominated life in the village. Moreover, he doesn't romanticize any particular place and time, but rather approaches it as the vanguard of an everchanging city.
Overall, a long, but great, read.
The historical accounts of what happened in the Village are truly amazing. Strausbaugh takes you through historical time periods and describes the Village's geography, and more importantly, who the people were, throughout history. He goes into some detail about how African former slaves were allowed to farm their own plots (but really as a first line of defense in case there were Indian attacks), about the different waves of immigration that came into the neighborhood, and how different industries, peoples, and movements all took root here.
He provides a very interesting background into the mafia's involvement in the Village for many decades, and discusses the important, and not necessarily positive, role the mob played in allowing certain scenes and movements to unfold, but also the problems that came with it. He also provides great background into the different art, philosophical, poetic, musical, and political movements that all found their base in the village.
The biggest weakness of this book is how overly comprehensive it is. Since so much occurred in the Village, Straussbaugh felt the need to comment on ALL of it, which tended to get a bit tiresome. He introduces you to hundreds of different people throughout this account, and it gets problematic because it is next to impossible to remember who anyone is. He didn't bother to provide a key of different people from different places, which could have been helpful. Instead anytime I came across a name that he throws back in, but never mentions for several chapters, I found myself having to go back and reread earlier segments. The effect of this is to provide an account that is rather cacophonous.
But the details and the history of the different movements are incredible. More than anything, Strausbaugh truly humanizes some of the larger than life characters who dominated life in the village. Moreover, he doesn't romanticize any particular place and time, but rather approaches it as the vanguard of an everchanging city.
Overall, a long, but great, read.
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April 22, 2014The subtitle says it all: "400 years of Beats and Bohemians, Radicals and Rogues, A History of Greenwich Village."
Greenwich started as a country living community for the rich - John and Abigail Adams built a home there. It later was moved in order to build multi-family homes, became a theater, a stable and was then torn down. The city encroached and surrounded bucolic Greenwich. Still Village-like in scope it became a community of creative, unorthodox artists and misfits.
Strausbaugh did his homework. The story moves quickly, chock-full of American history, what started in Greenwich definitely did not stay in Greenwich. All the movements that crisscrossed America started here. The music, from folk to glam, the civil rights movement, gay and lesbian rights (Stonewall is here! - Dog Day afternoon happened here!). All the stories are true and Strausbaugh interviews and gives a history of what happened to the people.
A few of the names: Walt Whitman, Dylan Thomas, Diane Arbus, Poe, Cole Porter, Jack Kerouac, Robert Downey Sr & Jr, Jackson Pollack, John Waters, Robert Moses, Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Edna St. Vincent Millay.
Thoroughly enjoyable, even if you have never been to NYC or Greenwich Village!
Recommended by Suzi
Greenwich started as a country living community for the rich - John and Abigail Adams built a home there. It later was moved in order to build multi-family homes, became a theater, a stable and was then torn down. The city encroached and surrounded bucolic Greenwich. Still Village-like in scope it became a community of creative, unorthodox artists and misfits.
Strausbaugh did his homework. The story moves quickly, chock-full of American history, what started in Greenwich definitely did not stay in Greenwich. All the movements that crisscrossed America started here. The music, from folk to glam, the civil rights movement, gay and lesbian rights (Stonewall is here! - Dog Day afternoon happened here!). All the stories are true and Strausbaugh interviews and gives a history of what happened to the people.
A few of the names: Walt Whitman, Dylan Thomas, Diane Arbus, Poe, Cole Porter, Jack Kerouac, Robert Downey Sr & Jr, Jackson Pollack, John Waters, Robert Moses, Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Edna St. Vincent Millay.
Thoroughly enjoyable, even if you have never been to NYC or Greenwich Village!
Recommended by Suzi
June 18, 2017
Was Greenwich Village a community of freaks and misfits, losers and dopers? Or was it an “arts powerhouse,” a center of genius and creativity? The answer is yes to both. This is a fascinating history of a fascinating place by someone obviously familiar with the neighborhood. From Dutch New Amsterdam to today’s gentrified New York, it is a star-studded account of movers and shakers in the arts and culture. Rich in short bios, interesting anecdotes, and social commentaries. A catalog of colorful and outrageous characters of varying degrees of significance.
Clear and readable. Recommended to New Yorkers and fans of American arts and letters. Illustrated and indexed. A street map would have been handy because Village streets were laid out by cows.
Clear and readable. Recommended to New Yorkers and fans of American arts and letters. Illustrated and indexed. A street map would have been handy because Village streets were laid out by cows.
February 7, 2015
This a very enjoyable history of Greenwich Village in New York City. I was worried that it would tip too much into a celebrity watch and occasionally it did lean that way but not badly. Strausbaugh kept such snippets brief and mainly linked to the Village. I found the early history of the area as it passed from a pastoral buffer from the Indians to being engulfed by the City very interesting. Theater and film history, as well as the evolution of the gay community and the involvement of the mafia and the unintended consequences of some of NY city's laws and policies and the politics of the area all make interesting reading.
February 26, 2016
Page 391 is where we finally get to Bob Dylan and Greenwich Village. I was waiting and WADING through much of the book to get to that point. I guess I should have just gotten a Dylan biography. There are really interesting stories throughout this 400-year span of history, but I found myself just wanting to get to the 60s already, and anyway the author seemed to dwell, sometimes ad nauseam, on everybody's sexuality which didn't interest me too much after a while, even though it may be an accurate portrayal of the scene. Oh, and seriously - why would you not include a map somewhere up in here? DUH.
November 14, 2019
First off this book needs maps. It is a very comprehensive history of the section of New York below 14th Street. There is information about who first lived in this area and how it grew. I really like knowing that the Grapevine Tavern was the source of the phrase, "heard it through the Grapevine." However by the 1950s and especially the 1960s it is more a list of who's who. He gets back to more of his great story telling when he relates the Weather Underground blast. I do like this because it is a specific history of an area I have always been curious about. I started Kindergarten there in 1965.
July 3, 2013
In the village, it is always the best of times, always the worst of times. If you can develop a tolerance for the repetition of the artsy-person-doesn't-fit-in-at-home-moves-to-village-fits-in-writes/paints/acts-but-mostly-drinks/shoots up/fucks/fights-dies-penniless-in-a-rent-controlled-hovel narrative, this is a really fun and informative read. One HUGE problem: NO MAP. So you might want to Google one and print it out to have handy when you read this.
August 10, 2016
Dissertation research.
This was a really good read and gave me a really in-depth history of Greenwich Village.
It also has a really detailed bibliography which is something I need for my research.
This was a really good read and gave me a really in-depth history of Greenwich Village.
It also has a really detailed bibliography which is something I need for my research.
February 23, 2022
This is an ambitious book, and one I think was good given what it was trying to achieve. Strausbaugh tries to cover a lot of diverse history quickly, so inevitably there are chapters or characters you wish there was a lot more on and others you don’t care about as much. I think this book serves as a good intro for someone with a high level understanding of the history of NYC and some familiarity with the artistic culture Greenwich Village is famous for. Characters come by so fast that unless you know a bit about them already, their story will probably just wash over you. Strausbaugh also seems to expect you as a reader are anticipating the arrival of some of the most famous (Dylan, Pollock, Kerouac, Ginsberg) and alludes to them before introducing them.
The book blazes through the area from first settlement to the Civil War, spending most of its time from the turn of the 20th century to the 1970s. It ends with a chapter on the AIDS crisis of the 1980s, with just a short epilogue addressing the 1990’s to 2010’s. I personally would have liked to hear a lot more about the early Village, but probably there is not much data available.
Strausbaugh’s prose is easy to read, sometimes sacrificing historical nuance for memorable descriptions (one person was described simply as “evil genius”). He does a good job of tying chapters together thematically despite the obvious challenges with overlapping characters and chronologies. One minor pet peeve of mine was that he used era-appropriate slang (“whoopie” and “hepcat”) as part of his own descriptions in various chapters, which I found jarring. My paperback edition didn’t have a map which I would have found very handy, especially as he frequently references exact addresses in the Village.
Overall, I think this works well as a launching point, a place to get a sense for the general history and to identify topics you’d like to explore further. Just don’t pick it up expecting a definitive history or depth on any particular topic.
The book blazes through the area from first settlement to the Civil War, spending most of its time from the turn of the 20th century to the 1970s. It ends with a chapter on the AIDS crisis of the 1980s, with just a short epilogue addressing the 1990’s to 2010’s. I personally would have liked to hear a lot more about the early Village, but probably there is not much data available.
Strausbaugh’s prose is easy to read, sometimes sacrificing historical nuance for memorable descriptions (one person was described simply as “evil genius”). He does a good job of tying chapters together thematically despite the obvious challenges with overlapping characters and chronologies. One minor pet peeve of mine was that he used era-appropriate slang (“whoopie” and “hepcat”) as part of his own descriptions in various chapters, which I found jarring. My paperback edition didn’t have a map which I would have found very handy, especially as he frequently references exact addresses in the Village.
Overall, I think this works well as a launching point, a place to get a sense for the general history and to identify topics you’d like to explore further. Just don’t pick it up expecting a definitive history or depth on any particular topic.
June 22, 2020
This is an exceptional history of the Village. I lived in New York City in 1983, around the time this book finishes up. The Village isn't what it used to be. I remember all the fun little shops and the street people, all the hustle, bustle of the place. Now it has become a place of wealth and little of the eccentricity is left. This is where liberalism developed as well as so much art, music, culture. I wished I had read this book before I lived in the city and anyone planning a trip there would be wise to read through this book, so as to visit some of the historically relevant places. Walt Whitman and Edgar Allen Poe started the tradition of the bohemian artistry and it continued on into the present time. In the Village writers Dylan Thomas, Allen Ginsburg, Jack Kerouac wrote. Musician Jimi Hendrix built his Electric Ladyland Studio. Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe lived and created. Andy Warhol had his artist loft studio and his assasination attempt took place there. Bob Dylan got his start and built his home and recording studio there. Diane Arbus photographed. These are some of the stories that Strausbaugh very thoroughly describes and this book is large and footnoted. Certainly the Stonewall LGBTQ uprising was an important part of the history of the village and is well chronicled here.
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June 18, 2019My grandmother grew up in the Village, then married, moved to New Jersey and raised a family. She told me she was called Renee Green the Village Queen. I still have her grammar school report cards. Claudette Colbert was in her class. I spent many uncomfortable afternoons of my childhood visiting her relatives in an awful cold water walk up on Jane St. I dreaded going there. Now I regret not being more curious about what was going on all around me. This book has filled on the blanks for me. And so, so much more. So much stuff I didn’t know and I was right there! She was friends with Jack Dempsey and I never knew why. Fast forward to the 60’s. Now I spent a lot of time going to the Bitter End, Bottom Line, Filmore East, off off Broadway plays, cafes. No liquor license meant listening to now famous singers while eating lots of ice cream. To me it was just normal life. Reading this put it all in perspective and made me appreciate what a special time it was and I just took it all for granted. In today’s Village, I hate the faux coffee shops that have sprung up for the tourists. So the geist may have moved on but it’s still a authentic place to just walk around and absorb.
July 30, 2024
For a pretty long book, I could not put it down! I have grown up in NYC and spent lots of time in The Village from early family trips to teen hanging out to working in the area. I knew some of the history and legacy, but after reading Mr. Strausbaugh book, I realized how little I knew. John does a great and detailed job writing about the history, growth, sexual behavior, politics, culture, etc. What was especially fascinating to me was all the stories about the unique and forgotten characters who inhabited the area. John is also a bit opiniated which some folks might have a wee issue with, but I really liked it. It was like sitting and talking to someone you really find interesting. I gotta add, while reading the book I was constantly reaching for my phone to google the people written about to learn even more about them. The book has given me a whole new level of perspective and appreciation of what is really a very small area, but one that is chock full of exceptional history.
July 13, 2020
The Village was a busy place. This book seemed to be 250 different vignettes about various people who lived in or passed through the Village during the past century and a half (the first 250 years were summarized quickly). Lots of interesting and different people! They were on the leading edge of culture! After awhile it felt like this book was a mile wide and an inch deep. Far too often it seemed as if the author was trying to name-drop as many people as possible, and most of the stories usually contained some anecdote about how an artist ended up drinking his way through the Village and died in a doorway. It got a bit dull by about a third of the way into the book, and I honestly couldn't finish, nor see the reason for doing so.
September 23, 2019
A history of the people and movements that made Greenwich Village a center of radical arts, culture and politics through the 20th Century. There is a split personality for the neighborhood from the more eccentric artists living alongside the more traditional Italian population and the historic colorful years of radical culture and arts amidst some really appalling slum conditions contrasted with the physically beautiful but gentrified and bland Village of the 21st Century. The book ends with the Aids epidemic and takes on an elegiac tone for what was that is gone forever.
January 1, 2023
While this book could be very interesting at times, it absolutely overwhelms the reader with people and anecdotes. I had to just let it wash over me as an impression since there wasn’t much of a through-line (besides the Village) to tie the massive number of vignettes together. And while there was a mix of backgrounds and ethnicities, it always seemed like the white men always got the most detailed treatment.
January 21, 2018
Enjoyed reading early history, beatnik era and folk Big Dylan fan One child lived on Bedford Street. Enjoyed seeing those who lived there and near there .
Recommend Enjoyed reading early history, beatnik era and folk Big Dylan fan One child lived on Bedford Street. Enjoyed seeing those who lived there and near there .
Recommend Enjoyed reading early history, beatnik era and folk Big Dylan fan One child lived on Bedford Street. Enjoyed seeing those who lived there and near there .
January 13, 2023
this is mind numbingly thorough and detailed and I couldn't get enough of it!!!! greenwich village is my favorite place in the world and I feel so lucky that I got to live there for a bit even tho the Bohemians are gone and the rich took their place <3 if I ever exit my poor era u know I'll be moving back
August 10, 2018
A great history
It would have been great to live in the village in the late 50’s. Since I couldn’t - this book is the next best thing. See for yourself. If you have any interest at all in the Beats or the counter culture... this is a great read.
It would have been great to live in the village in the late 50’s. Since I couldn’t - this book is the next best thing. See for yourself. If you have any interest at all in the Beats or the counter culture... this is a great read.
December 24, 2018
Absolutely the best book I have read this year. Strausbaugh weaved an intensely detailed tapestry that made me feel like I was living through every moment and era of Greenwich Village. If I had more time, I would reread this book a thousand more times to soak up every last detail.
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