St. Marks Place in New York City has spawned countless artistic and political movements. Here Frank O’Hara caroused, Emma Goldman plotted and the Velvet Underground wailed. Ada Calhoun tells the “Fascinating” (Village Voice) many-layered history of the street—from its beginnings as a pear orchard to today’s hipster playground—organised around the pivotal moments when critics declared “St. Marks is dead”.
In this “timely, provocative, and stylishly written book.” (The Atlantic), enriched by interviews and rare images, Calhoun profiles iconic characters from W.H. Auden to Abbie Hoffman, from Keith Haring to the Beastie Boys. St. Marks has variously been an elite address, an immigrants’ haven, a mafia warzone, a hippie paradise and a backdrop to the film Kids—but it has always been a place that outsiders call home.
- ISBN10 039324038X
- ISBN13 9780393240382
- Publish Date 12 January 2016 (first published 2 November 2015)
- Publish Status Inactive
- Out of Print 4 March 2021
- Publish Country US
- Imprint WW Norton & Co
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 432
- Language English