Life at the Dakota

New York's Most Unusual Address

By: Stephen Birmingham

Narrated by: LJ Ganser

A history of the Manhattan building and its famous tenants, from Lauren Bacall to John Lennon, by the New York Times best-selling author of Our Crowd.

When Singer sewing machine tycoon Edward Clark built a luxury apartment building on Manhattan’s Upper West Side in the late 1800s, it was derisively dubbed “the Dakota” for being as far from the center of the downtown action as its namesake territory on the nation’s western frontier. Despite its remote location, the quirky German Renaissance-style castle, with its intricate façade, peculiar interior design, and gargoyle guardians peering down on Central Park, was an immediate hit, particularly among the city’s well-heeled intellectuals and artists.

Over the next century it would become home to an eclectic cast of celebrity residents - including Boris Karloff, Lauren Bacall, Leonard Bernstein, singer Roberta Flack (the Dakota’s first African-American resident), and John Lennon and Yoko Ono - who were charmed by its labyrinthine interior and secret passageways, its mysterious past, and its ghosts. Stephen Birmingham, author of the New York society classic Our Crowd, has written an engrossing history of the first hundred years of one of the most storied residential addresses in Manhattan and the legendary lives lived within its walls.

©1979 Stephen Birmingham (P)2019 Audible, Inc.

Travel back in time with this audiobook

Absolutely loved this book. The stories are so fascinating and detailed. The research this author did is astounding. The writing style is brilliant. I felt like I was right inside the fascinating history of this building and the evolving city of New York. I also loved the narrator. He’s such an entertaining reader I’m going to check out other audiobooks he’s read.

Oh Hum

Expected more about the people that live there instead of so in depth of the building. It tended to be dry and somewhat droning.

Interesting Stories

The stories of the Dakota, its neighbor hood, and it's residents was very interesting to listen too. I love being more knowledgeable about the history of this NYC icon. It was also narrated well. Since it was copy righted in 1979, it would be nice to hear a sequel to catch up on its happenings in the past 40 years.

Fascinating

A well-written, entertaining story of a very unique building and the eccentric, colorful people who lived there over the years. May it remain for many more years.

too old to be relevant

This book was written prior to John Lennon's death & the political details & the "names" are too far removed even for someone who graduated High School in 1971 to find any meaning. The first few chapters about the history of New York City & the building of Central Park & the construction of the Dakota itself were very interesting -- but after that -- I couldn't wait to make it to the END of this book.