An edition of Fool's paradise (2009)

Fool's paradise

1st ed.
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Last edited by MARC Bot
July 22, 2019 | History
An edition of Fool's paradise (2009)

Fool's paradise

1st ed.
  • 1 Want to read

From the acclaimed bestselling author of Philistines at the Hedgerow comes a remarkably revealing profile of the Miami Beach no one knows--a tale of fabulous excess, thwarted power, and rekindled lives that will take its place among the decade's best works of social portraiture.Created from a mix of swampland and dredged-up barrier reef, Miami Beach has always been one part drifter-mecca and one part fantasyland, simultaneously a catch basin for con men, fast-talk artists, and shameless self-promoters, and a Shangri-La for sun worshippers and hardcore hedonists. In Miami Beach it's often said that "if you're not indicted you're not invited." But the city's mad, fascinating complexity resists easy stereotyping.Fool's Paradise is more than just a present-day profile of a dark Eden. Gaines journeys back into the city's social and cultural history, unearthing stories of the resort's past that are every bit as absorbing--and jaw-dropping--as those of its present. The book begins with a snapshot of the city's current excess (this is, after all, a sun-washed hamlet that boasts, on a per capita basis, more bars--and breast implants--than any other place in America), then plunges into the Beach's origins, chronicling the audacious rise of such hoteliers as the Fontainebleau's Ben Novack and the Eden Roc's Harry Mufson, the sharp-elbowed tactics of Al Capone and Frank Sinatra, and the Mac-10 shooting sprees of the Marielito and Colombian drug lords.From there, the narrative shifts to two wildly eccentric souls who gave their lives to preserving the city's architectural dazzle and creating its color palette, introduces us to "the Most Powerful Man in Miami Beach," and arrives finally in the modern day, where we meet, among others, a kinky German playboy who once owned a quarter of South Beach and publicly flaunts his sexual escapades; a fabulously successful nightclub promoter whose addictive past seems to have given him a portal into the night world's id; and a gaggle of young sexy models, dreamers, and schemers on a mission to achieve significance.Evoking the Beach's surreal blend of flashy Vegas and old Hollywood glamour, as well as its manic desperation and reckless wealth, Gaines persuasively demonstrates that though the Beach is--in the words of its most famous drag queen--"an island of broken toys . . . a place where people get away with things they'd never get away with anyplace else," it casts an irresistible spell.From the Hardcover edition.

Publish Date
Publisher
Crown Publishers
Language
English
Pages
274

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Previews available in: English

Edition Availability
Cover of: Fool's paradise
Fool's paradise
2009, Crown Publishers
in English - 1st ed.
Cover of: Fool's Paradise
Fool's Paradise
2009, Crown Publishing Group
Electronic resource in English

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Book Details


Table of Contents

Socialites
Miami Beach
Lincoln Road
Sans Souci
The Fontainebleau
Eden Roc
Twilight of the gods
The most powerful man in Miami Beach
Fool's paradise
Leonard and Barbara
The mayor of South Beach
Into the night
South Beach story
The forge
Models
The king of the city
Liquid
Season's end.

Edition Notes

Published in
New York

Classifications

Dewey Decimal Class
975.9/381
Library of Congress
F319.M62 G35 2009

The Physical Object

Pagination
p. cm.
Number of pages
274

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL22527829M
Internet Archive
foolsparadisepla00gain
ISBN 13
9780307346278
LCCN
2008036067
OCLC/WorldCat
227929772
Library Thing
7788865
Goodreads
3528725

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History

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July 22, 2019 Edited by MARC Bot remove fake subjects
January 10, 2019 Edited by MARC Bot import existing book
April 29, 2017 Edited by ImportBot import new book
December 4, 2010 Edited by Open Library Bot Added subjects from MARC records.
December 9, 2009 Created by WorkBot add works page