Broadway Boogie Woogie

Damon Runyon and the Making of New York City Culture

D. Schwarz

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2003
• Print ISBN: 9781349386994, 9780312239480
• eBook ISBN: 9781403973504
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Social History

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.

Table of contents

• Cover
• BROADWAY BOOGIE WOOGIE
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Abbreviations for Runyon References
• Introduction:Who Was Damon Runyon?
• Chapter 1 Runyon’s New York
• Chapter 2 The Eyes And Ears Of The City
• Chapter 3 Runyon’s Trial Reporting And The Spectator Culture
• Chapter 4 The Art And Artistry Of Runyon’s Fiction
• Chapter 5 The Genres Of Runyon’s Fiction
• Chapter 6 The Genres Of Runyon’s Fiction
• Chapter 7 The Genres Of Runyon’s Later Fiction
• Chapter 8 The Turps
• Conclusion
• Notes
• Works Cited and Discussed