The Bowery

The Strange History of New York's Oldest Street

By: Stephen Paul DeVillo

Narrated by: Daniel Henning

It was the street your mother warned you about - even if you lived in San Francisco. Long associated with skid row, saloons, freak shows, violence, and vice, the Bowery often showed the worst New York City had to offer. Yet there were times when it showed its best as well.

The Bowery is New York's oldest street and Manhattan's broadest boulevard. Like the city itself, it has continually reinvented itself over the centuries. Named for the Dutch farms, or bouweries, of the area, the path's lurid character was established early when it became the site of New Amsterdam's first murder. A natural spring near the Five Points neighborhood led to breweries and taverns that became home to the gangs of New York - the "Bowery B'hoys", "Plug Uglies", and "Dead Rabbits". In the Gaslight Era, teenaged streetwalkers swallowed poison in McGurk's Suicide Hall.

A brighter side to the street was reflected in places of amusement and culture over the years. A young P. T. Barnum got his start there, and Harry Houdini learned showmanship playing the music halls and dime museums. Poets, singers, hobos, gangsters, soldiers, travelers, preachers, storytellers, con men, and reformers all gathered there. Its colorful cast of characters includes Peter Stuyvesant, Steve Brodie, Carry Nation, Stephen Foster, Stephen Crane, and even Abraham Lincoln.

©2017 Stephen Paul DeVillo (P)2021 Tantor

Unfortunate choice of reader.

I only got one chapter into this book. Although the subject matter seems interesting, the gentleman reading it has a very theatrical and sing-song style. The affect is just too over-the-top for historical nonfiction, and I won't be able to listen to any more of it. He should be considered for silly children's literature; it would be a good fit for him.

Fantastic!

This book was great from beginning to end. Excellent performance. Entertaining and informative. Yum!

Fantastic!

Loved the history and the detail. Enjoyed the narration also. Growing up in New York, it is great to hear the history of the place.

well researched

the narrator, very professional with impeccable enunciation, was not a good match for this book.