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Rating: 
Summary: No one checked his facts!
Review: I wanted to like this book, but it seems to have been put together in a hurry. Mr. Jeffers facts were not checked. I don't know if I should blame the author or the editor. pg 305 - 309, Washington Roebling the NEPHEW of the Brooklyn Bridge builder died on the Titanic, not the bridge builder who lived until 1926.Brady is NOT entombed in Green-Wood cemetery in Brooklyn, he is in the ground in Holy Cross cemetery in Brookyn. pg 319 My head hurt from the mistakes! THey are throughout the book. I hope Mr. Jeffers is more on top of his other works - this one was painfull.
Rating:
Summary: No one checked his facts!
Review: I wanted to like this book, but it seems to have been put together in a hurry. Mr. Jeffers facts were not checked. I don't know if I should blame the author or the editor. pg 305 - 309, Washington Roebling the NEPHEW of the Brooklyn Bridge builder died on the Titanic, not the bridge builder who lived until 1926. Brady is NOT entombed in Green-Wood cemetery in Brooklyn, he is in the ground in Holy Cross cemetery in Brookyn. pg 319 My head hurt from the mistakes! THey are throughout the book. I hope Mr. Jeffers is more on top of his other works - this one was painfull.
Rating: 
Summary: What a Character!
Review: If you are looking for an enjoyable book about an interesting historical character, look no further. Paul Jeffers, chronicler of Teddy Roosevelt and Grover Cleveland, reaches back once again to the Gilded Age in painting an entertaining portrait of Diamond Jim Brady. An up-from-the-bootstraps son of an Irish immigrant saloonkeeper, Brady would amass a colossal fortune in the burgeoning railroad and steel industries of the late 19th Century. This colossal fortune he used to cut an imposing figure on the New York City social scene, giving new meaning, in the process, to the concept of "living large." One New York restaurater dubbed Brady the best 25 customers he ever had. On page after page, Brady plunges into 14-course meals, often in the company of the era's most renowned American actress, Lillian Russell, who routinely matched the rotund Brady plate-for-plate. Jeffers' descriptions of Brady's voracious appetite are worth the price of the book: "He stationed his chair so that there were four inches between the edge of the table and his stomach. Eating ended when the gap had been closed." There's more to Jeffers'new book than Brady's prodigous eating forays. It's actually an engaging history of New York high society in the period between the Civil War and World War I. Robustly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Great Social History
Review: Someone once wrote that there is more to history than wars, treaties, and presidents. This story of Diamond Jim Brady and his platonic friend Lillian Russell makes for great reading of the gilded Eighties, Gay Nineties, and Naughty Naughts. The flamboyant Brady made his money selling railroad equipment and didn't hesitate to spend it on his passion for diamonds, food, or lavishing gifts upon others. It's true that Jim enjoyed advertising himself, but he did enjoy giving gifts to others. When he moved to his West 86th street home on Manhattan he refurnished it with entirely new furniture along with a complete new wardrobe. He introduced New York to the automobile which ran on an electric battery which had a cruising range of thirty-six miles. Since it would be bad for his image if it broke down, he had a friend test drive it for five successive days in the early morning hours. Most people eat to live, but Diamond Jim truly was one who lived to eat. His gustatorial tales fill the book. During the removal of a kidney stone it was found that his stomach was six times larger than normal. I will share a very funny line from the book regarding Jim's wearing of diamonds. It was a rule of his that "diamonds larger than doorknobs should be worn only in the evening." I did find that Diamond Jim had feelings of insecurity regarding his appearance when he was turned down in marriage from a woman named Edna. Jim lamented, "I asked her plenty of times to marry me and she always refused. ...There ain't a woman in the world who'd marry a fat, ugly guy like me." He also offered one million dollars to Lillian Russell to marry him, but she turned him down saying, "Why ruin a beautiful friendship?" If you enjoy American social history you have a treat waiting for you in reading this book.
Rating:
Summary: Great Social History
Review: Someone once wrote that there is more to history than wars, treaties, and presidents. This story of Diamond Jim Brady and his platonic friend Lillian Russell makes for great reading of the gilded Eighties, Gay Nineties, and Naughty Naughts. The flamboyant Brady made his money selling railroad equipment and didn't hesitate to spend it on his passion for diamonds, food, or lavishing gifts upon others. It's true that Jim enjoyed advertising himself, but he did enjoy giving gifts to others. When he moved to his West 86th street home on Manhattan he refurnished it with entirely new furniture along with a complete new wardrobe. He introduced New York to the automobile which ran on an electric battery which had a cruising range of thirty-six miles. Since it would be bad for his image if it broke down, he had a friend test drive it for five successive days in the early morning hours. Most people eat to live, but Diamond Jim truly was one who lived to eat. His gustatorial tales fill the book. During the removal of a kidney stone it was found that his stomach was six times larger than normal. I will share a very funny line from the book regarding Jim's wearing of diamonds. It was a rule of his that "diamonds larger than doorknobs should be worn only in the evening." I did find that Diamond Jim had feelings of insecurity regarding his appearance when he was turned down in marriage from a woman named Edna. Jim lamented, "I asked her plenty of times to marry me and she always refused. ...There ain't a woman in the world who'd marry a fat, ugly guy like me." He also offered one million dollars to Lillian Russell to marry him, but she turned him down saying, "Why ruin a beautiful friendship?" If you enjoy American social history you have a treat waiting for you in reading this book.
Rating: 
Summary: What 'New York' missed
Review: This book reveals what, sadly, the recent Burns PBS documentary 'New York' totally ignored; The whole wonderful parade of characters and events that defined the Gilded Age. While the book has flaws (Reggie Vanderbilt was the great-grandson, not grandson, of Commodore Vanderbilt, and J.P. Morgan was not 'the most hated financier' in America) it still does a good job of bringing to life this epochal time. Especially enjoyable are the descriptions of the New York cafe and restaurant society (Emeril eat your heart out!!) that Brady and Lillian Russell were so much a part of. This book is a good starter for those beginning to explore this period. From here then read Strouse's 'Morgan; American Financier', Patterson's 'The Vanderbilts' and Gregory's 'Families of Fortune' and your off to a good start!!
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