Tales of Times Square
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Book Overview
Before Rudolph Giuliani cleaned it up for the benefit of Disney and megatourism, New York City's Times Square was the unholy nexus of porn, drugs and the world's oddest characters. Now the subject of a major documentary film, here is the classic sleaze-soaked obituary of the Times Square of years gone by, penned by a man who lived the lowlife and is still here to tell the tale.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:1932595287
ISBN13:9781932595284
Release Date:September 2007
Publisher:Feral House
Length:320 Pages
Weight:1.00 lbs.
Dimensions:0.5" x 6.1" x 8.9"
Customer Reviews
5 ratings
Hilarious and Important
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 15 years ago
Thank heavens that Josh Alan Friedman has chronicled his stories of 42nd Street sleaze in this book and Tales of Times Square.Someday these books will be treasured along with Herbert Asbury's.
The Forty Duece That Was
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 22 years ago
This may very well be the best book on Times Square,so far ( compared to Samuel Delany's "Times Square Red, Times Square Blue" and Bill Landis & Michelle Clifford's "Sleazoid Express").Josh Alan Friedman reads like a cross between Damon Runyan, and Studs Terkel, with a big dose of Jimmy Breslin vocabulary. He definitely tells it like it was, from the early history of vaudeville, to burlesque, to porno grinders, Plato's Retreat, and live sex shows. And, he heralds its demise, even in the early 80's. His character sketches are priceless! It's funny, erotic, dirty, and, at times, downright repugnant, a veritable Dantesque tour of sleaze. Welcome to the Forty Duece,suckers!
quintessential
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 23 years ago
This is the best document ever written about pre-AIDs pre crack Times Square. Koch era New York was the golden age of Times Square and no book captures it with less judgement than this.
PERFECT WRITER FOR THE SUBJECT
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 25 years ago
I found this work to be a very good description ot the old Times Square...that is prior to 1983. I was familiar with many of the establishments described and some of the people. Friedman's use of imagery is outstanding. He helped me to understand for the first time things that I had seen thousands of times. The author's tone is perfect. He is without moral condemnation and without excuse for the charaters in the book. His tone is one of amused...and amusing disgust. Future historians may doubt that such a place ever existed, but Freidman's description is so very true.
A Times Square History in the Height of the Porn Industry
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 26 years ago
An amazing look back at a Times Square gone by. Characters like this rarely exist in fiction, much less fact. Strippers, cops, peep show custodians..they're all here. The author has a Nelson Algren style...every vignette reads like a short story. Shocking!!! You'll talk about it for years.
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