St. Marks Is Dead: The Many Lives of America's Hippest Street

The Many Lives of America’s Hippest Street

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Sociology, Urban, Cultural Studies, Popular Culture, History, Americas, United States
Cover of the book St. Marks Is Dead: The Many Lives of America's Hippest Street by Ada Calhoun, W. W. Norton & Company
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Ada Calhoun ISBN: 9780393249798
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company Publication: November 2, 2015
Imprint: W. W. Norton & Company Language: English
Author: Ada Calhoun
ISBN: 9780393249798
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Publication: November 2, 2015
Imprint: W. W. Norton & Company
Language: English

A vibrant narrative history of three hallowed Manhattan blocks—the epicenter of American cool.

St. Marks Place in New York City has spawned countless artistic and political movements. Here Frank O’Hara caroused, Emma Goldman plotted, and the Velvet Underground wailed. But every generation of miscreant denizens believes that their era, and no other, marked the street’s apex. This idiosyncratic work of reportage tells the many layered history of the street—from its beginnings as Colonial Dutch Director-General Peter Stuyvesant’s pear orchard to today’s hipster playground—organized around those pivotal moments when critics declared “St. Marks is dead.”

In a narrative enriched by hundreds of interviews and dozens of rare images, St. Marks native Ada Calhoun profiles iconic characters from W. H. Auden to Abbie Hoffman, from Keith Haring to the Beastie Boys, among many others. She argues that St. Marks has variously been an elite address, an immigrants’ haven, a mafia warzone, a hippie paradise, and a backdrop to the film Kids—but it has always been a place that outsiders call home. This idiosyncratic work offers a bold new perspective on gentrification, urban nostalgia, and the evolution of a community. 

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

A vibrant narrative history of three hallowed Manhattan blocks—the epicenter of American cool.

St. Marks Place in New York City has spawned countless artistic and political movements. Here Frank O’Hara caroused, Emma Goldman plotted, and the Velvet Underground wailed. But every generation of miscreant denizens believes that their era, and no other, marked the street’s apex. This idiosyncratic work of reportage tells the many layered history of the street—from its beginnings as Colonial Dutch Director-General Peter Stuyvesant’s pear orchard to today’s hipster playground—organized around those pivotal moments when critics declared “St. Marks is dead.”

In a narrative enriched by hundreds of interviews and dozens of rare images, St. Marks native Ada Calhoun profiles iconic characters from W. H. Auden to Abbie Hoffman, from Keith Haring to the Beastie Boys, among many others. She argues that St. Marks has variously been an elite address, an immigrants’ haven, a mafia warzone, a hippie paradise, and a backdrop to the film Kids—but it has always been a place that outsiders call home. This idiosyncratic work offers a bold new perspective on gentrification, urban nostalgia, and the evolution of a community. 

More books from W. W. Norton & Company

Cover of the book Reagan and Thatcher: The Difficult Relationship by Ada Calhoun
Cover of the book This Road I Ride: Sometimes It Takes Losing Everything to Find Yourself by Ada Calhoun
Cover of the book Will Oldham on Bonnie "Prince" Billy by Ada Calhoun
Cover of the book The Republic of Poetry: Poems by Ada Calhoun
Cover of the book Now the Green Blade Rises: Poems by Ada Calhoun
Cover of the book The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome by Ada Calhoun
Cover of the book Stolen Tomorrows: Understanding and Treating Women's Childhood Sexual Abuse by Ada Calhoun
Cover of the book Professional Practice: A Guide to Turning Designs into Buildings by Ada Calhoun
Cover of the book The David Story: A Translation with Commentary of 1 and 2 Samuel by Ada Calhoun
Cover of the book Thinking Strategically: The Competitive Edge in Business, Politics, and Everyday Life by Ada Calhoun
Cover of the book Sun in Days: Poems by Ada Calhoun
Cover of the book Thinking at Every Desk: Four Simple Skills to Transform Your Classroom by Ada Calhoun
Cover of the book One to Nine: The Inner Life of Numbers by Ada Calhoun
Cover of the book Clinical Intuition in Psychotherapy: The Neurobiology of Embodied Response (Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology) by Ada Calhoun
Cover of the book The Developmental Science of Early Childhood: Clinical Applications of Infant Mental Health Concepts From Infancy Through Adolescence by Ada Calhoun
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy