{"product_id":"low-life","title":"Low Life","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"A cacophonous poem of democracy and greed, like the streets of New York themselves.\" \u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e―John Vernon, Los Angeles Times Book Review\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLucy Sante's \u003ci\u003eLow Life \u003c\/i\u003eis a portrait of America's greatest city, the riotous and anarchic breeding ground of modernity. \u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThis 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 whose cramped and overcrowded housing is still a prominent feature of the cityscape. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eLow Life \u003c\/i\u003evoyages through Manhattan from four different directions. Part One examines the actual topography of Manhattan from 1840 to 1919; Part Two, the era's opportunities for vice and entertainment--theaters and saloons, opium and cocaine dens, gambling and prostitution; Part Three investigates the forces of law and order which did and didn't work to contain the illegalities; Part Four counterposes the city's tides of revolt and idealism against the city as it actually was. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eLow Life\u003c\/i\u003e provides an arresting and entertaining view of what New York was actually like in its salad days. But it's more than simply a book about New York. It's one of the most provocative books about urban life ever written--an evocation of the mythology of the quintessential modern metropolis, which has much to say not only about New York's past but about the present and future of all cities.","brand":"Farrar, Straus and Giroux","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52715990909239,"sku":"9780374528997","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0934\/9926\/1239\/files\/imageloader_82ab74b8-1f40-41dd-ba6c-3ab0c0eaa0e4.jpg?v=1784838138","url":"https:\/\/shop.queerbooks.com\/products\/low-life","provider":"Philly AIDS Thrift @ Giovanni's Room","version":"1.0","type":"link"}