05-08-2014, 11:29 AM
It's the story of the Chelsea Hotel in New York City. Yes, I became acquainted with the Chelsea Hotel because of the movie Sid and Nancy, but the story of the hotel is so much more and is really well covered by Tippins. Tippins takes one notable Hotel resident and follows them through an era so we see the hotel from that person's perspective. So, we are in the hotel with Dylan Thomas, Arthur Miller, Brendan Behan, Andy Warhol, Patty Smith et al. Some of them are tangential as is the case of Bob Dylan but you can see Tippins really wanted to talk about him and the city.
And the book is almost a history of New York and some of it's main art movements that germinated at the hotel, The hotel was built in the 1880's as an artist commune along the lines of the Fourier movement with the wealthy people and the common workers living in one environment. The hope was the different stratas of society would intermingle to beneficial effect.
It's a long book. There is a lot of detail. I'm going to kick ass on a lot of Jeopardy questions because. For instance it was where Arthur C. Clarke lived while writing 2001 with Kubrick. There are thousands of those anecdotes.
The book culminates with the death of Nancy Spunge with only a small coda to follow after. It is the story of the hotels rise and fall almost mirroring the city around it.
A very good read if you want a generous dollop of a very specific history.
And the book is almost a history of New York and some of it's main art movements that germinated at the hotel, The hotel was built in the 1880's as an artist commune along the lines of the Fourier movement with the wealthy people and the common workers living in one environment. The hope was the different stratas of society would intermingle to beneficial effect.
It's a long book. There is a lot of detail. I'm going to kick ass on a lot of Jeopardy questions because. For instance it was where Arthur C. Clarke lived while writing 2001 with Kubrick. There are thousands of those anecdotes.
The book culminates with the death of Nancy Spunge with only a small coda to follow after. It is the story of the hotels rise and fall almost mirroring the city around it.
A very good read if you want a generous dollop of a very specific history.
So much for the flickr badge idea. Dammit