Read The Heart of the World eBook Nik Cohn

Product details File Size 813 KB Print Length 382 pages Page Numbers Source ISBN 0679744371 Publisher Vintage; Reprint edition (August 10, 2011) Publication Date August 10, 2011 Sold by  Digital Services LLC Language English ASIN B005DXOO9C

The Heart of the World eBook Nik Cohn Reviews

• Nik Cohn chronicles an eight month sojourn down 'The Great White Way', the 21 miles of Broadway. He records the "quirks" or characters-odd balls- that make up the street from the gangs and transvestites to the old hands whose Broadway is dying out and being replaced by realty and business models.
  Cohn also tells the history of the street as he winds down its ever expanding length as it moved from New Yorks centre over two centuries and the fables that were created as well as fortunes made and lost-most notably Barnum and his freak shows (or American Museums and Circuses as he'd have it)the so called golden ages, the era of Stanford White and Evelyn Nesbit; the effects of the prohibition era and the City's bankruptcy of the mid 70's all ushering in an endless change.This is Broadway as a living organism; changing and adapting to the times of the City that spawned it.
  I found this a terrific read, it really recalled Nelson Algren's great Chicago books like 'Neon Wilderness' and 'City on the Make' taking you where the tourist office doesn't want you to go.
  Cohn's writing history consists of 'Saturday Night Fever' and a number of pop culture books,which-from a literary point of view-I guess doesn't augur well, but after the first chapters you realize what is meant by literary snobbery!The parallels with Damon Runyon and Herbert Asbury are well earned, and this is certain to be revived over the decades under the 'Classic' banner, which I would again say it earns.
  A little long? Maybe, but always entertaining. Written in 1992, strange to think that Cohn's Broadway no longer exists.
• Everybody has a sad story, and it seems like Nik Cohn went and found them all. This book does the unique...it puts a name and a story with each of those faces you see on your way to work. There's Sasha Zim...who in a few statements sums up the feeling of the book...New York is a hellpit, but it's my hellpit. Not a happy book in the traditional sense, going into it with the wrong mindframe might leave you in a somewhat sour mood. At times dour, at times saddening, at times depressing--you know that these are real people. Cohn brings out the best in these people. Combined with an awesome ability to paint an image, Cohn characterizes each person to the point that they couldn't have told the story better themselves. The characterizations, though, are at times a little too perfect...mostly good, I did roll my eyes a couple of times. Cohn packs as much meaning into a phrase as is humanly possible. I've not read a person who can turn a phrase like Mr. Cohn. However, it is NOT a quick read. Set aside a long period of time...read it in little bits and digest it. The scope of the tale, like its subject, is just too broad to consume in one sitting.