Gilded City: Scandals and Sensations of New York City at the Turn of the Century

Author: M. H. Donaldson (USA)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: Donaldson's works vividly depict the scandals and sensational events of New York City in 1890 that are now forgotten. His thorough critical spirit reminds us to deeply reflect on this gilded society. – The New York Observer
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, New York was known as the Gilded Age. The city was rapidly progressing, with wealth flowing in; the Edith Wharton, Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, and other world-famous figures shone like stars. The author did not follow the conventional path but instead broke new ground, narrating another side of the Gilded Age—not the one that showed gentlemanly demeanor and refined conversation, but the one filled with the struggle of the survival of the fittest and danger. She selected many sensational real-life events of the time, from the tragic stampede caused by thousands of New York civilians fervently watching a luxurious wedding to the nine-hour-long injuring and destruction caused by a zoo elephant's sexual frenzy. She also recorded a variety of characters, such as Stanford White, William Merritt Chase, the Midnight, the exotic dancer Little Egypt, and many others.
Donaldson's works vividly depict the scandals and sensational events of New York City in 1890 that are now forgotten. His thorough critical spirit reminds us to deeply reflect on this gilded society. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, New York was known as the Gilded Age. The city was rapidly progressing, with wealth flowing in; the Edith Wharton, Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, and other world-famous figures shone like stars. The author did not follow the conventional path but instead broke new ground, narrating another side of the Gilded Age—not the one that showed gentlemanly demeanor and refined conversation, but the one filled with the struggle of the survival of the fittest and danger. She selected many sensational real-life events of the time, from the tragic stampede caused by thousands of New York civilians fervently watching a luxurious wedding to the nine-hour-long injuring and destruction caused by a zoo elephant's sexual frenzy; she also recorded a variety of characters, such as Stanford White, William Merritt Chase, the Midnight, the exotic dancer Little Egypt.