Suggested Bowery reading list
- Alvin F. Harlow’s OLD BOWERY DAYS: THE CHRONICLES OF A FAMOUS STREET (Out of print but a bible for Bowery aficionados)
- WINDOWS ON THE BOWERY: 400 YEARS ON NYC’S OLDEST STREET Produced by the Bowery Alliance of Neighbors. Contributions by 19 writers/historians; design by Cooper Union. Over 400 illustrations.
- David Mulkins THE BOWERY a brief historical overview, with over 200 images
- Luc Sante’s LOW LIFE: LURES & SNARES OF OLD NEW YORK
- Tyler Anbinder’s FIVE POINTS
- Herbert Asbury’s THE GANGS OF NEW YORK
- Edwin Burrows & Mike Wallace’s GOTHAM – A HISTORY OF NYC TO 1898
- Mike Wallace’s GREATER GOTHAM: A HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY FROM 1898 TO 1919
- George Chauncey, GAY NEW YORK
- Stephen Crane’s MAGGIE: GIRL OF THE STREETS and GEORGE’S ROOM
- Eric Ferrara’s THE BOWERY: A HISTORY OF GRIT, GRAFT, & GRANDEUR
- Armand & Marc Field’s FROM BOWERY TO BROADWAY: LEW FIELDS AND THE ROOTS OF AMERICAN POPULAR THEATER
- David Freeland’s AUTOMATS, TAXI DANCERS, & VAUDEVILLE
- Timothy J. Gilfoyle’s CITY OF EROS: NEW YORK CITY, PROSTITUTION & THE COMMERCIALIZATION OF SEX, 1790-1920.
- David Isay & Stacy Abramson, FLOPHOUSE: LIFE ON THE BOWERY , with photographs by Harvey Wang
- Owen Kildare, MY MAMIE ROSE: THE STORY OF MY REGENERATION
- Joyce Mendelsohn’s THE LOWER EAST SIDE: REMEMBERED & REVISITED
- Michael Mitchell’s MONSTERS: HUMAN FREAKS IN AMERICA’S GILDED AGE – THE PHOTOGRAPHS OF CHARLES EISENMANN (His studio was 229 Bowery)
- Joseph Mitchell’s McSORLEY’S WONDERFUL SALOON
- Peter Quinn’s BANISHED CHILDREN OF EVE (Historical novel)
- Trav S.D.’s NO APPLAUSE, JUST THROW MONEY (Vaudeville history)
- Richard F Welch, KING OF THE BOWERY (Big Tim Sullivan biography)
- Keven Baker, DREAMLAND (Historical novel)
- Parker Zellers, TONY PASTOR: DEAN OF THE VAUDEVILLE STAGE
- O. Henry, story “A LITTLE LOCAL COLOR”
- Alice Sparberg Alexiou’s DEVIL’S MILE: THE RICH, GRITTY HISTORY OF THE BOWERY
- Jami Attenberg’s SAINT MAZIE (a novel, based on life of Mazie Phillips)
- Arthur Bonner’s ALAS! WHAT BROUGHT THEE HITHER? – THE CHINESE IN NEW YORK, 1800-1950
- Caleb Carr’s THE ALIENIST (novel)
- Nigel Cliff’s THE SHAKESPEARE RIOTS: REVENGE, DRAMA, AND DEATH IN 19th CENTURY AMERICA (about the Astor Place Riots)
- Stephen Paul DeVillo’s THE BOWERY: THE STRANGE HISTORY OF NEW YORK’S OLDEST STREET
- Eric Homberger’s THE HISTORICAL ATLAS OF NEW YORK CITY: A VISUAL CELEBRATION OF NEARLY 400 YEARS OF NEW YORK CITY’S HISTORY
- Legs McNeil & Gillian McCain’s PLEASE KILL ME: AN UNCENSORED ORAL HISTORY OF PUNK
- Laurence Senelick’s THE AGE & STAGE OF GEORGE L. FOX, 1825-1877 (bio of famous 19th century clown)
- Jason Storbakken’s BOWERY MISSION: GRIT AND GRACE ON MANHATTAN’S OLDEST STREET
- Arthur W. Bloom, EDWIN FORREST: A BIOGRAPHY AND PERFORMANCE HISTORY
- Dale Cockrell, EVERYBODY’S DOIN’ IT: SEX, MUSIC, AND DANCE IN NY, 1840–1917
- Jerry Mikorenda, AMERICA’S FIRST FREEDOM RIDER: ELIZABETH JENNINGS, CHESTER A. ARTHUR, AND THE EARLY FIGHT FOR CIVIL RIGHTS (Fight to end segregated public transit system).
Compiled by: Bowery Alliance of Neighbors 184 Bowery, #4 New York, NY 10012
631-901-5435
ban62007@gmail.com