Three nonfiction titles, inspired by posts for my blog, make up my Wild New York series of books about New York and New Yorkers.
The quirky memoir of a longtime resident who loves his city, a selective glance at that city’s amazing history, and a bit of a travel book, all rolled into one.
It’s for people who love (or hate) the city, and people who have visited or want to visit it.
Readers will learn
• Who New Yorkers are and how they live and die
• How many languages are spoken there (you’d be surprised)
• How many witches there are (you'd be surprised)
• Whose funeral caused an all-day riot
• Why a cemetery offers trolley-car tours and whiskey tastings
• How Fifth Avenue went from goats to grandeur
• How your taxi driver may be a Tibetan, a Sherpa from Nepal, or a gypsy
• How the Statue of Liberty almost didn’t happen
• Which flashy modern hotel would-be suicides should avoid at all costs, and why
• How the author had an affair with a Broadway chorus boy (if the Cardinal Archbishop of New York could do it, so could he).
It’s for people who love (or hate) the city, and people who have visited or want to visit it.
Readers will learn
• Who New Yorkers are and how they live and die
• How many languages are spoken there (you’d be surprised)
• How many witches there are (you'd be surprised)
• Whose funeral caused an all-day riot
• Why a cemetery offers trolley-car tours and whiskey tastings
• How Fifth Avenue went from goats to grandeur
• How your taxi driver may be a Tibetan, a Sherpa from Nepal, or a gypsy
• How the Statue of Liberty almost didn’t happen
• Which flashy modern hotel would-be suicides should avoid at all costs, and why
• How the author had an affair with a Broadway chorus boy (if the Cardinal Archbishop of New York could do it, so could he).
Available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
1. No Place for Normal: New York / Stories from the Most Exciting City in the World (Mill City Press, 2015) is the first title in my Wild New York series.
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The Wickedest Woman in New York: Madame Restell, the Abortionist (Archon Books, 1988) tells the story of Ann Lohman, an English immigrant who under the assumed name Madame Restell became the city’s most notorious abortionist, shocking respectable citizens by parading about in sumptuous finery – evidence of her ill-gotten gains – and then building a palatial mansion on the Fifth Avenue, in the city’s most fashionable and exclusive residential district. When finally arrested by Anthony Comstock, the founder of the New York Society for the Prevention of Vice, she went out with a bang.
Reviews
"Tourists and those new to the city will most appreciate this light, entertaining look at the Big Apple." -- Publishers Weekly
"New York is the most exciting city in the world. It's unique and reading "New Yorkers" is the next best thing to actually living there!" -- Midwest Book Review
"This immersive exploration of the city and its denizens etches a vivid portrait of what it is to be a New Yorker." -- Kirkus Reviews
"A loving and modern master work on the Big Apple." -- K.C. Finn, Readers' Favorite
"A tantalizing vision of an exciting city overflowing with diversity in all respects." -- Lisa Brown-Gilbert, Bestsellersworld
"Thousands of books have been written about New York City, but this one stands out." -- Blue Ink Review
"Reminiscing that warms you!" -- Jennie Louwes, Reedsy Discovery
"New York is the most exciting city in the world. It's unique and reading "New Yorkers" is the next best thing to actually living there!" -- Midwest Book Review
"This immersive exploration of the city and its denizens etches a vivid portrait of what it is to be a New Yorker." -- Kirkus Reviews
"A loving and modern master work on the Big Apple." -- K.C. Finn, Readers' Favorite
"A tantalizing vision of an exciting city overflowing with diversity in all respects." -- Lisa Brown-Gilbert, Bestsellersworld
"Thousands of books have been written about New York City, but this one stands out." -- Blue Ink Review
"Reminiscing that warms you!" -- Jennie Louwes, Reedsy Discovery
2. Fascinating New Yorkers: Power Freaks, Mobsters, Liberated Women, Creators, Queers and Crazies, is the second title in my Wild New York series.
Finalist in the 2019 International Book Awards, Biography.
Biographical sketches of people, some remembered and some forgotten, who lived or died in New York.
Included are a prostitute's daughter who got to know two ex-kings and
a future emperor; a cardinal archbishop known in certain circles as "Franny"; and a serial killer who terrorized the city.
Readers will also learn about Andy Warhol and his sex life; J.P. Morgan and his nose; and Polly Adler, Queen of Tarts.
Especially notable is a pioneer in female erotica who had two husbands and kept a "lie box" with lists of lies so she could keep her two lives straight.
Readers may be shocked by these people, or angered or puzzled, but they will never be bored.
No longer available from Black Rose Writing, the original publisher. Might be available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Beware of other sources charging outrageous prices. A new edition is forthcoming. Will be announced when available.
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Reviews
"Readers will enjoy Clifford Browder’s lively, descriptive writing. Fans of non-fiction and more recent history will really appreciate the research that he put into these pages." — Editorial review for Reader Views by Paige Lovitt.
"There’s something for everyone here in this collection of profiles, and it serves as a source of inspiration for readers who love
NYC." — Editorial review for U.S. Review of Books by Gabriella Tutino.
"I couldn't put this down and read it in one sitting!" — Five-star editorial review for NetGalley by Cristie Underwood.
1. No Place for Normal: New York / Stories from the Most Exciting City in the World (Mill City Press, 2015) is the first title in my Wild New York series.
Winner for regional nonfiction in the Tenth Annual National Indie Excellence Awards, 2016.
First place for Travel in the Reader Views Literary Awards for 2015-2016.
Finalist in the Eric Hoffer Book Awards for 2016.
Subjects include alcoholics, abortionists, grave robbers, Occupy Wall Street, the Gay Pride Parade, a bloody corner, peyote visions, and an early feminist whose enemies called her "Mrs. Satan."
Readers will also encounter spooks and ghouls, near-death experiences, and an artist who made art out of a blood-filled squirt gun and a blackened human toe.
No Place for Normal is a celebration of the wild, unpredictable, sometimes maddening, but always fascinating city of New York.
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Reviews
"I thoroughly enjoyed 'No Place for Normal: New York' by Clifford Browder and highly recommend it to all fans of entertaining short stories and lovers of New York City. It would also make an interesting travel guide for people who just want to learn more about the city that never sleeps!" Reader Views review by Sheri Hoyte.
"If you want wonderful inside tales about New York, this is the book for you. Cliff Browder has a way with his writing that makes the city I lived in for 40 plus years come alive in a new and delightful way. A refreshing view on NYC that will not disappoint." Five-star Amazon customer review by Bill L.
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My lifelong interest in history led me to write biographies of two once renowned
but now almost forgotten figures in nineteenth-century New York.
The Money Game in Old New York: Daniel Drew and His Times (University Press of Kentucky, 1986) is an
account of Daniel Drew, a farmer turned cattle drover turned steamboat operator
who went on to become the wiliest operator on Wall Street, where his homespun
ways won him the name Uncle Daniel.
Allied with Jim Fisk and Jay Gould, he fought Commodore Vanderbilt, a
titan of finance, for control of the Erie Railway and clipped the redoubtable
Commodore for some two million dollars.
The Wickedest Woman in New York: Madame Restell, the Abortionist (Archon Books, 1988) tells the story of Ann Lohman, an English immigrant who under the assumed name Madame Restell became the city’s most notorious abortionist, shocking respectable citizens by parading about in sumptuous finery – evidence of her ill-gotten gains – and then building a palatial mansion on the Fifth Avenue, in the city’s most fashionable and exclusive residential district. When finally arrested by Anthony Comstock, the founder of the New York Society for the Prevention of Vice, she went out with a bang.
I am also the author of André Breton: Arbiter
of Surrealism (Librairie Droz, 1967), a critical study of the French poet
who dominated the Surrealist movement in France between the two World
Wars. It was perhaps the first
full-length study of Breton in English.
The two
biographies are now out of print but available used at varying prices online. They
can also be found in reference libraries. The Breton book is also available online.
© 2021 Clifford Browder
© 2021 Clifford Browder
Have you considered self-publishing digital versions of your out-of-print books? I'd be especially interested in buying a Kindle version of Madame Restell, having just read Kate Manning's novel My Notorious Life. I imagine you own the digital publishing rights to your own books and that there would be some interest.
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