Inventing Times Square by William R Taylor

Inventing Times Square by William R Taylor

A unique volume, Inventing Times Square approaches the subject of twentieth-century American city culture through a multidimensional examination of one quintessential urban space: Times Square. Ranging in time from 1905, when the crossroad was given its present name, through to the current plans for redevelopment, the authors examine Times Square as economic hub, real estate bonanza, entertainment center, advertising medium, architectural experiment, and erotic netherworld. Though the volume centers on Times Square, the essays venture much further into urban history and American social history, revealing in the process how Times Square reflected-even epitomized-America as it became an urban consumer culture.

A portrait of pre-World War II America in good-natured upheaval, shaking off convention and inventing and reinventing an unpredictable 'commercial culture'. New York Times This is a rather astonishing effort-the collective brainpower focused on the subject fairly guarantees that every little corner of the square's history will be illuminated for the reader. Los Angeles Times The range of topics is enormous, from the strategies of city planners and real estate entrepreneurs to the tactics of cultural resistance employed by homosexuals and by retailers of commercial popular culture. Journal of American History

William Taylor has taught at Harvard University, the University of Wisconsin, the University of Chicago, and the State University of New York-Stony Brook. A fellow of the New York Institute for the Humanities, he is the author of In Pursuit of Gotham and Cavalier and Yankee.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780801853371
ISBN 10	0801853370
Title	Inventing Times Square
Author	William R Taylor
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Johns Hopkins University Press
Year published	1996-05-27
Number of pages	496
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable