Broadway Boogie Woogie : Damon Runyon and the Making of New York City Culture

Damon Runyon's popularity and importance in shaping Amer-ican popular culture during the first half of the twentieth century can hardly be exaggerated. In lively and exuberant chapters that include a panoramic view of New York City between the World Wars-with an emphasis on the city's colorful nightlife-Schwarz examines virtually every facet of Runyon's career, from sports-writer, daily columnist, trial re-porter, and Hollywood figure to the author of the still widely read short stories that were the source of the Broad-way hit Guys and Dolls. While analyzing Runyon's high-spirited work in terms of historical contexts, popular culture, and of the changing function of the media, Schwarz argues that in his columns and stories Runyon was an indispensable figure in creating our public images of New York City culture, inclu-ding our interest in the demimonde and underworld that explains in part the success of The Godfather films and the Sopranos. As part of his discussion of Runyon's art and artistry of Runyon's fiction, he skillfully examines the special language of the Broadway stories known as 'Runyonese' and explains how 'Runyonese' has become an adjective describing flamboyant behavior. While analyzing Damon Runyon's high spirited work in terms of historical contexts, popular culture, and of the changing function of the media, Schwarz argues that in his columns and stories Runyon was an indispensable figure in creating our public images of New York City culture, including our interest in the demi-monde and underworld that explains in part the success of The Godfather films and The Sopranos . In his lively and exuberant chapters that include a panoramic view of New York City between the World Wars - with a focus on its colourful nightlife - Schwarz examines virtually every facet of Runyon's career from sports writer, daily columnist, trial reporter, and Hollywood figure to the author of the still widely-read short stories that were the source of the Broadway hit Guys and Dolls . As part of his discussion of Runyon's art and the artistry of Runyon's fiction, Schwarz skilfully examines the special language of the Broadway stories known as 'Runyonese', and explains how 'Runyonese' has become an adjective for describing flamboyant behaviour. This analysis of Damon Runyon's high spirited work in terms of historical contexts, popular culture, and of the changing function of the media, argues that Runyon was an indispensible figure in creating public images of New York City culture, including an interest in the demi monde and underworld that explains in part the success of "The Godfather" films and "The Sopranos". With chapters including a panoramic view of New York City between the World Wars with a focus on its colourful nightlife Schwarz examines virtually every facet of Runyon's career from sports writer, daily columnist, trial reporter, and Hollywood figure to the author of the still widely read short stories that were the source of the Broadway hit "Guys and Dolls". As part of his discussion of Runyon's art and artistry of Runyon's fiction, he examines the special language of the Broadway stories known as "Runyonese" and explains how this word has become an adjective describing flamboyant behaviour While analyzing Damon Runyon’s work in terms of historical contexts, popular culture, and of the changing function of the media, Schwarz argues that Runyon was an indispensible figure in creating enduring images of New York City culture, which spurred an interest in the demi-monde and underworld exposed in The Godfather films and The Sopranos. In lively and exuberant chapters that include a panoramic view of New York City between the World Wars--and its colorful nightlife--Schwarz examines virtually every facet of Runyon’s career from sports writer, daily columnist, trial reporter, and Hollywood figure to the author of the still widely read short stories that were the source of the Broadway hit Guys and Dolls. As part of his discussion of Runyon’s art and artistry of Runyon’s fiction, he skillfully examines the special language of the Broadway stories known as “Runyonese” and explains how “Runyonese” has become an adjective describing flamboyant behavior. Schwarz demonstrates Runyon's impact on contemporary American urban culture during his career as sportswriter, columnist, trial reporter, and Hollywood figure. His writings, influenced by Vaudeville, jazz, radio, tabloid journalism and the New York gangster culture, can most recently be identified as having influenced The Godfather films and TV hit The Sopranos When I was ten years old, I remember hearing hilarious laughter from my father while he was reading downstairs in the living room. Daniel R. Schwarz. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [334]-339) And Index.