American Eve

I have just finished a book so good that it has left me in mourning. I mourn the death of Evelyn Nesbit and the end of the book. I also mourn the fact that I missed meeting the author, Paula Uruburu, a week ago. She is a professor at Hofstra University here on Long Island and I look forward to another opportunity to meet her and get a copy of American Eve: Evelyn Nesbit, Stanford White, the Birth of the "It" Girl and the Crime of the Century signed!
This book was an amazing read for many reasons. First, the story of Evelyn Nesbit and Stanford White has all the ingredients of a classic, tragic love story but could still satisfy today's gossip lovers (a la tmz.com). The fact that this story is told by Professor Uruburu makes it all the more enjoyable. She is an expert on the time period (1899-1900 turn of the century), the pop culture of the period and feminist history. This could all equal a big bore of a book in the wrong hands, but it is the definition of nonfiction that reads like fiction. I could not put this book down. The many photos of Evelyn and other "characters" throughout the text perfectly illustrate the narrative.



This book is HIGHLY recommended for anyone who enjoys reading about the history of Manhattan, architecture, gossipy and scandalous murder trials, rags to riches bildungsromans, or pop culture during the turn of the century.