(no subject)
Jan. 4th, 2010 12:17 pmI did not get a chance to post on the last book I read in 2009 while it was still 2009, because I was busy twirling my villainous moustache as I kidnapped
genarti (and, for lesser periods of time,
areyoumymemmy and
rymenhild. Okay, technically I guess Rym kidnapped me. ANYWAY.) Sadly, all of the aforementioned have now escaped my clutches, so I am left bereft and alone with no way to cheer myself up except by babbling about hilarious 1850's-era urban sensationalism!
I picked up New York By Gas-Light while I was wandering through the history shelves in the Brooklyn library, because it promised me "the festivities of prostitution, the orgies of pauperism, the haunts of theft and murder, the scenes of drunkenness and beastly debauch, and all the sad realities that go to make up the lower stratum - the underground story - of life in New York!"
And yes, it delivered everything it promised. *_*
George G. Foster, the author, was apparently a well-known nineteenth-century sensationalist sketch reporter - sketch in more than one term, since, as the introduction gleefully points out, after spending a lot of time expostulating in his columns about the vice and corruption of the city, the guy was thrown in prison due to forging the signatures of famous actors on his dry-cleaning checks. And then committed bigamy. I was therefore predisposed to be entertained even before I actually got to the meat of the sketches, which can mostly be summed up as: Be careful! New York is full of PROSTITUTES! You can go to the theater if you want I guess. And maybe go have fun bowling! But be careful you don't get cheated out of your money, and also, PROSTITUTES.
( Highlights of ridiculousness! Cut for length, hilarity, newsies, racism, sexism, and PROSTITUTES )
In seriousness, though, it was also pretty fascinating just to read about the geography of the city in the 1850's - whatever dubious accuracy of what Foster portrays as going on inside it - which was, of course, wildly different from the city of today, but retains some similarities. And oh, those rich bastards who live above Bleecker Street!
I am also going to be forever grateful that I read this book because the introduction introduced me to the existence of this glorious book from the same era, entitled The Quaker City: The Monks of Monk's Hall. Apparently it is basically like The Monk, but set in my hometown of Philadelphia! THE PATH BEFORE ME HAS BEEN PREPARED, I MUST ACQUIRE AND READ IT IMMEDIATELY. (Apparently the villain's name is DEVIL-BUG. BRB LAUGHING FOREVER.)
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I picked up New York By Gas-Light while I was wandering through the history shelves in the Brooklyn library, because it promised me "the festivities of prostitution, the orgies of pauperism, the haunts of theft and murder, the scenes of drunkenness and beastly debauch, and all the sad realities that go to make up the lower stratum - the underground story - of life in New York!"
And yes, it delivered everything it promised. *_*
George G. Foster, the author, was apparently a well-known nineteenth-century sensationalist sketch reporter - sketch in more than one term, since, as the introduction gleefully points out, after spending a lot of time expostulating in his columns about the vice and corruption of the city, the guy was thrown in prison due to forging the signatures of famous actors on his dry-cleaning checks. And then committed bigamy. I was therefore predisposed to be entertained even before I actually got to the meat of the sketches, which can mostly be summed up as: Be careful! New York is full of PROSTITUTES! You can go to the theater if you want I guess. And maybe go have fun bowling! But be careful you don't get cheated out of your money, and also, PROSTITUTES.
In seriousness, though, it was also pretty fascinating just to read about the geography of the city in the 1850's - whatever dubious accuracy of what Foster portrays as going on inside it - which was, of course, wildly different from the city of today, but retains some similarities. And oh, those rich bastards who live above Bleecker Street!
I am also going to be forever grateful that I read this book because the introduction introduced me to the existence of this glorious book from the same era, entitled The Quaker City: The Monks of Monk's Hall. Apparently it is basically like The Monk, but set in my hometown of Philadelphia! THE PATH BEFORE ME HAS BEEN PREPARED, I MUST ACQUIRE AND READ IT IMMEDIATELY. (Apparently the villain's name is DEVIL-BUG. BRB LAUGHING FOREVER.)