Why read Low Life?

Book cover of Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York

Book description

Lucy Sante's Low Life is a portrait of America's greatest city, the riotous and anarchic breeding ground of modernity.

This is not the familiar saga of mansions, avenues, and robber barons, but the messy, turbulent, often murderous story of the city's slums; the teeming streets--scene of innumerable cons and crimes…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked Low Life as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Richard Goodman

Author

I lived in New York City for thirty-five years. I devour books about what I now consider as my home.--no matter where I live. Sante's book cover the waterfront--literally. It's a delightful compendium of the strange, weird, colorful and somehow beguiling criminals, hucksters, con artists and sundry denizens of New York's underworld.

From Richard's 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Christiane Bird

Author

Another classic—albeit of a far different type—Lucy Sante uncovers the underbelly of 19th- and early 20th-century New York, a world filled with pimps, madams, gamblers, con men, and crooked cops. But this book is more than just a collection of stories about colorful characters. It’s also a meditation on the city’s secrets and the allure of danger and darkness. I dealt with some of the same themes in my own book and had no better model to emulate than this groundbreaking work.

From Christiane's list on New York City by women writers.