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heloise_lifeinbooks 's review for:
informative
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
This is a very detailed look into the full history of the Chelsea Hotel, from conception to the mid 2010s.
A huge portion of the book focuses on the social, political, and economic context and changes throughout the decades, and how the Chelsea and its ideals weathered or absorbed each change.
We get an informative picture of the people who passed through or stayed, big and small names alike, but I liked that the focus wasn’t especially on presenting a star-studded whimsical view of the hotel’s resident stars, but expressing how these creatives both expressed, railed against, and survived their times, and how unique of a space the Chelsea had to provide that.
As a side note I also like that the extreme usage of drugs was neither idolized or demonized in this account.
Truly an informative, interesting, and excellent look at the history of this hotel in the context of the history of New York City, the development of different cultural and artistic movements, and the never ending march of corporate capitalism and the destruction it leaves in its wake.
The one thing I’d say as a negative is that I got the sense that the author holds double standards for the women she discussed, despite being a woman herself. It was subtle so I might be reading it wrong, but there was a sense of judgement and throwaway for some of the women’s actions that weren’t there for them men who behaved in the same way. Just a thought.
A huge portion of the book focuses on the social, political, and economic context and changes throughout the decades, and how the Chelsea and its ideals weathered or absorbed each change.
We get an informative picture of the people who passed through or stayed, big and small names alike, but I liked that the focus wasn’t especially on presenting a star-studded whimsical view of the hotel’s resident stars, but expressing how these creatives both expressed, railed against, and survived their times, and how unique of a space the Chelsea had to provide that.
As a side note I also like that the extreme usage of drugs was neither idolized or demonized in this account.
Truly an informative, interesting, and excellent look at the history of this hotel in the context of the history of New York City, the development of different cultural and artistic movements, and the never ending march of corporate capitalism and the destruction it leaves in its wake.
The one thing I’d say as a negative is that I got the sense that the author holds double standards for the women she discussed, despite being a woman herself. It was subtle so I might be reading it wrong, but there was a sense of judgement and throwaway for some of the women’s actions that weren’t there for them men who behaved in the same way. Just a thought.