<< Not a recent read but Frewin in London Blues quotes
from Luc Sante's LOWLIFE
and if by any chance anyone out there hasn't come
across this history of New
York's underbelly then seek it out, it's fascinating,
sad and sometimes very
funny. >>
Seeing someone recommend Low Life, I had to write to say that
the book is for the most part a reworking (and rip-off) of a
much better book published in 1928 by Herbert Asbury: Gangs
of New York. Luc Sante owes his career to the fact that books
go out of print, and then are largely forgotten, in my
opinion. I would also recommend Asbury's other books: The
Barbary Coast (SF's underworld), The French Quarter (New
Orleans), Gem of the Prairie (Chicago), and Sucker's Progress
(History of Gambling in US). Very well-researched, very
whimsical, entertaining reads.
Nathaniel Lachenmeyer
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