The cultural diversity of America is often summed up by way of a different metaphors: Melting Pot; Patchwork; Quilt; Mosaic--none of which capture the symbiotics of the city. Few neighborhoods personify the diversity these terms connote more than New York City's Lower East Side. This storied urban landscape; today a vibrant mix of avant garde artists and street culture; was home; in the 1910s; to the Wobblies and served; forty years later; as an inspiration for Allen Ginsberg's epic Howl. More recently; it has launched the career of such bands as the B-52s and been the site of one of New York's worst urban riots. In this diverse neighborhood; immigrant groups from all over the world touched down on American soild for the first time and established roots that remain to this day: Chinese immigrants; Italians; and East European Jews at the turn of the century and Puerto Ricans in the 1950s. Over the last hundred years; older communities were transformed and new ones emerged. Chinatown and Little Italy; once solely immigrant centers; began to attract tourists. In the 1960s; radical young whites fled an expensive; bourgeois lifestyle for the urban wilderness of the Lower East Side. Throughout its long and complex history; the Lower East Side has thus come to represent both the compulsion to assimilate American culture; and the drive to rebel against it. Mario Maffi here presents us with a captivating picture of the Lower East Side from the unique perspective of an outsider. The product of a decade of research; Gateway to the Promised Land will appeal to cultural historians; urban; and American historians; and anyone concerned with the challenges America; as an increasingly multicultural society; faces.
#1271647 in Books Schocket Andrew M 2015-01-23 2015-01-23Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.10 x 1.00 x 6.30l; .0 #File Name: 0814708161256 pagesFighting Over the Founders How We Remember the American Revolution
Review
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. An intense bookBy sullyThis book is a very intensely written overview of how the biographies of the founders and the history of the Revolution are used and abused by politicians;historians; movie makers; cable TV ideologues; historic sites; groups like the Tea Party and civil rights groups. A lot is crammed into this book as the author writes long sentences with many commas and moves quickly from idea to idea. The chapters are defined overall but within the chapters you are in for a fast paced ride. This is not necessarily a negative comment for a book of this type but you are in for a ride when you read this book. The author establishes a dualistic view of how the founders are interpreted which are either "essentialist" or "organicist" and these categories are used when viewing all aspects of how all the various contemporary groups or writers deal with the founders or the Revolution for their won aims. The best example of this is when a politician references a founding father in a political speech. The essentialist view involves the bare historical facts about the founder and is presented as appealing to a conservative viewpoint. The organicist looks at the changing or evolving interpretations of a founder and appeals to a more liberal viewpoint. This dualism is a constant throughout the book. I feel that he takes this dual view too far in excessively aligning essentialism with conservatives and organicism with liberalism. One aspect of this book which I found amusing is how he grinds an axe about non academic writers who have written best selling biographies of the founders. Three non academic writers; David McCullough; Jon Meacham and Ron Chernow are given some grief for some of their interpretations of Adams; Jefferson and Hamilton in their best selling books. Though the author's criticisms make sense and do fit in with his dualistic overview; I just couldn't overlook sensing resentment from an academic historian at journalists who make the big bucks with founder biographies while hundreds of academics don't. He does make a valid point about historians are not being honest by acting like they are above being political in their writing. They all have a perspective and it comes out in their writing. Ultimately; the author is more in favor of the organicist side of his dualistic viewpoint of how the founders are interpreted. Yet; I have to credit him with making a sincere effort to be balanced overall. For example; he clearly is not in favor of the Tea Party movement; but his analysis of them and their ideas within his overall perspective of the book was very even and insightful. His critique of the movie "The Patriot" was nuanced as he showed an understanding of the ways the movie industry uses history to tell a story even though historians or others can have big disagreements about what is shown in the movie. He correctly complains about the bland non offensive way history is portrayed at actual historic sites; but admits it has to be that way in contemporary America. The author comes at his subject from a self admitted liberal perspective but to his credit he is mostly open minded and critical. It is refreshing in today's black and white style of argumentation to see a thought provoking book like this one.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy Matthew B. GrippiTimely apropos.0 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy GiniExcellent!
