'Runyon exerted infulence far beyond writing a story and had an enormous impact on popular culture in America. Recommended...' - Katherine E. Merrill, Library Journal
''Runyonese' evoke[s] a perhaps mythical Manhatten occupied by amusing, sometimes violent or greedy perps.' - James Boylan, Columbia Journalism Review
'If you love anything to do with the history of New York City, Dan Schwarz has written just the book for you. Broadway Boogie Woogie: Damon Runyon and the Making of New York City Culture is a fascinating look at the gritty nether world in which writer Damon Runyon lived and worked...Between the two world wars, Runyon wrote from an insider's view of the city's underbelly. The high-rollers, the glitzy nightlife, the underworld characters, the palookas he wrote about transfixed his readers much as the gory photogravure tabloid shots by crime photographer 'Weegee' (Arthur Fellig) who could find 'beauty' even at a murder scene.' - Monica Finch, Union College
'Schwarz's book shows how Runyon captured - and in some ways created - the sights and sounds of New York City in the first half of the twentieth century. [According to Schwarz], 'To read Runyon is to read New York City history between 1910 and 1946...His trial reporting had much to do with creating the spectator culture.' One of the best chapters in the book deals with that topic. Among the trials Runyon covered was the ordeal of Bruno Richard Hauptmann, who was convicted in the 1932 kidnapping and death of Charles A. Lindbergh, Jr., the 20-months son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh. Runyon, whose short story 'The Idyll of Sarah Brown', became the hit Broadway musical 'Guys and Dolls', could provide both [entertainment and information].'
'Schwarz revels in describing the impact and style of Runyon, who was one of the two most important, and hard-working, columnists in America from the 1920s until his death in 1946. The other was Walter Winchell...Runyon's impact was widespread...'
'Runyon was tailor-made for New York City, which he draped with memorable characters, such as Harry the Horse, Sky Masterson, Dave the Dude, and Apple Annie. Runyon was a good listener, Schwarz says. That allowed him to absorb the tone of the times. According to Schwarz, 'Runyon understood that...talk is performance...He told people what New York was about.' That meant, primarily, show business, crime, and politics.'
'The focus on Runyon is an apt vehicle for Schwarz's larger goal of writing a book about the culture of New York City.' - Frank Heron, The Syracuse Post-Standard
'Moving from one work to the next, Schwarz...summarizes and discusses the vast oeuvre of Damon Runyon's fiction. Emphasis is given to the recurring motifs of gambling, vaudeville, and street sensibilities. The roots of these subjects in Runyon's own life and the influence of his representation of New York City on later writers are important themes.' - Reference & Research Book News
'...thought-provoking examination of Runyon and his historical context.' - T. D. Beal, Choice
