Julie Satow

NYC, historical-figures, historical-places-events, historical-research, historical-setting*****

It feels like a love song to the grand past of a once Grand Building that has evolved into a different time and incarnation. It's about all of the luminaries who stayed there and the impact they had on the hotel and on the public who adored them. And it's about the fascinating entertainer who embodied and wrote the iconic series of books about a young girl named Eloise and her home at the Plaza Hotel. I loved the walk through NYC history as viewed through the perspective of an iconic institution and it's patrons.
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Twelve Books via NetGalley. Thank you!… (mehr)

Julie Satow’s “biography” of New York’s Plaza Hotel, is eminently readable as it takes a look at the historic structure, literally from the ground up.

Painstakingly researched, the book discusses not only the building, but also the people involved with its construction, ownership, and maintenance, and with the changing world it reflects.

Whether you’re interested in early labor union conflicts or eavesdropping on the famous (and infamous) guests or want to know more about the fictional Eloise or have a burning need to unravel its convoluted ownership history (including a near-disastrous period under Donald Trump), you’ll find it in these pages.… (mehr)

The Plaza: The Secret Life of America's Most Famous Hotel from Julie Satow is an engaging history of this iconic hotel, and by extension a bit of a social history of NYC and the country. The ups and downs, the types of issues and problems, as well as some of the solutions parallel much of what was going on in the country.

One concern when reading a book like this is that it will actually be a history of only one aspect of the subject, in this case a hotel. Satow managed to truly write a history of the Plaza, from some architecture and infrastructure to celebrity and cultural history, including the potentially dry area of business and finance. Weaving these together into one narrative kept each area fresh and compelling. The latter part of the book did get bogged down in finance and business dealings but that is less the fault of Satow and more simply the fact that as the hotel became a shell of what it had been socially the bankruptcy (Trump of course, being the wonderful businessmoron he is) and subsequent wheeling and dealing really was all the hotel had left to make it interesting. But even in these sections there were some wonderful stories to help convey the human and social aspects rather than just the "prestige" some uncouth billionaires think will rub off on them by ruining an icon.

While I would recommend this to anyone interested in landmarks and their history, I would also caution readers that this is an all encompassing history so there may well be chapters or sections that are on aspects you find less interesting. That said, the writing is very good and should carry you through these sections.

Reviewed from a copy made available through Goodreads First Reads.… (mehr)