Life at the Dakota
New York's Most Unusual Address
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Narrated by:
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LJ Ganser
About this listen
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.
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- Unabridged
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The wave of Eastern European Jewish immigrants who swept into New York in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by way of Ellis Island were not welcomed by the Jews who had arrived decades before. These refugees from czarist Russia and the Polish shtetls who came to America to escape pogroms and persecution were considered barbaric, uneducated, and too steeped in the traditions of the "old country" to be accepted by the more refined and already well-established German-Jewish community. But the new arrivals were tough, passionate, and determined.
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Book 3 of 3
- By Etoile NEOhio on 11-15-22
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The Barbizon
- The Hotel that Set Women Free
- By: Paulina Bren
- Narrated by: Andi Arndt
- Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Welcome to New York’s legendary hotel for women, the Barbizon. Liberated after WWI from home and hearth, women flocked to New York City during the Roaring Twenties. But even as women’s residential hotels became the fashion, the Barbizon stood out; it was designed for young women with artistic aspirations, and included soaring art studios and soundproofed practice rooms. More importantly still, with no men allowed beyond the lobby, the Barbizon signaled respectability, a place where a young woman of a certain class could feel at home.
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A Very Enjoyable Non Fiction, Mostly Easy Listening
- By Frank Donnelly on 03-23-21
By: Paulina Bren
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The Castle on Sunset
- Life, Death, Love, Art, and Scandal at Hollywood's Chateau Marmont
- By: Shawn Levy
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 12 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Since 1929, Hollywood’s brightest stars have flocked to the Chateau Marmont as if it were a second home. An apartment building-turned-hotel, the Chateau has been the backdrop for generations of gossip and folklore: where director Nicholas Ray slept with his 16-year-old Rebel Without a Cause star Natalie Wood; Jim Morrison swung from the balconies; John Belushi suffered a fatal overdose; and Lindsay Lohan got the boot after racking up nearly $50,000 in charges in less than two months. Much of what has happened inside the Chateau’s walls has eluded the public eye - until now.
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Was enjoying it until...
- By leigh on 04-22-20
By: Shawn Levy
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The Address Book
- What Street Addresses Reveal About Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power
- By: Deirdre Mask
- Narrated by: Janina Edwards
- Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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An exuberant and insightful work of popular history of how streets got their names, houses their numbers, and what it reveals about class, race, power, and identity. When most people think about street addresses, if they think of them at all, it is in their capacity to ensure that the postman can deliver mail or a traveler won’t get lost. But street addresses were not invented to help you find your way; they were created to find you. In many parts of the world, your address can reveal your race and class.
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Simply OK
- By CJFLA on 07-18-20
By: Deirdre Mask
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Victoria’s Most Haunted
- Ghost Stories from BC’s Historic Capital City
- By: Ian Gibbs
- Narrated by: Brennan Storr
- Length: 3 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Beautiful, charming Victoria is world renowned for its seaside attractions, flourishing gardens, and breathtaking ocean views. But looming behind its picture-perfect façade is a city shrouded in mystery, with restless, disembodied beings that whisper ghastly tales of mystery, violence, and horror.
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Very good!
- By Trkmec on 03-13-22
By: Ian Gibbs
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The Cubans
- Ordinary Lives in Extraordinary Times
- By: Anthony DePalma
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean, Anthony DePalma
- Length: 12 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Cubans today, most of whom have lived their entire lives under the Castro regime, are hesitantly embracing the future. In his new book, Anthony DePalma, a veteran reporter with years of experience in Cuba, focuses on a neighborhood across the harbor from Old Havana to dramatize the optimism as well as the enormous challenges that Cubans face: a moving snapshot of Cuba with all its contradictions as the new regime opens the gate to the capitalism that Fidel railed against for so long.
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The real Cuba
- By Tinkerbell on 10-11-20
By: Anthony DePalma
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Tokyo Underworld
- The Fast Times and Hard Life of an American Gangster in Japan
- By: Robert Whiting
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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In the ashes of postwar Japan lay a gold mine for certain opportunistic, expatriate Americans. Addicted to the volatile energy of Tokyo's freewheeling underworld, they formed ever-shifting but ever-profitable alliances with warring Japanese and Korean gangsters. At the center of this world was Nick Zappetti, an ex-marine from New York City who arrived in Tokyo in 1945 and whose restaurant soon became the rage throughout the city and the chief watering hole for celebrities, diplomats, sports figures, and mobsters.
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A Man with a fork in a world of soup
- By Kindle Customer on 09-01-20
By: Robert Whiting
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The Most Spectacular Restaurant in the World
- The Twin Towers, Windows on the World, and the Rebirth of New York
- By: Tom Roston
- Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
- Length: 13 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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In the 1970s, New York City was plagued by crime, filth, and an ineffective government. The city was falling apart, and even the newly constructed World Trade Center threatened to be a fiasco. But in April 1976, a quarter-mile up on the 107th floor of the North Tower, a new restaurant called Windows on the World opened its doors - a glittering sign that New York wasn't done just yet. In The Most Spectacular Restaurant in the World, journalist Tom Roston tells the complete history of this incredible restaurant, from its stunning $14-million opening to 9/11 and its tragic end.
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New Yorkers Must Listen
- By Thomas on 09-20-19
By: Tom Roston
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The Day the Bubble Burst
- A Social History of the Wall Street Crash of 1929
- By: Gordon Thomas, Max Morgan-Witts
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 21 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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The New York Times best seller that tells the story of an overheated stock market and the financial disaster that led to the Great Depression of the 1930s. A riveting living history about Black Tuesday, October 29, 1929. Captures the era, the intoxicating expectancy, the hope that ruled men's heart and minds before the bubble burst and the black despair of the decade that followed.
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Thorough and fascinating
- By Bowen Florsheim on 04-23-21
By: Gordon Thomas, and others
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City of the Century
- The Epic of Chicago and the Making of America
- By: Donald L. Miller
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 24 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Here, witness Chicago's growth from a desolate fur-trading post in the 1830s to one of the world's most explosively alive cities by 1900. Donald Miller's powerful narrative embraces it all: Chicago's wild beginnings, its reckless growth, its natural calamities (especially the Great Fire of 1871), its raucous politics, its empire-building businessmen, its world-transforming architecture, its rich mix of cultures, its community of young writers and journalists, and its staggering engineering projects.
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A STORY THAT TRIES TOO HARD....AND FAILS
- By The Louligan on 02-01-15
By: Donald L. Miller
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Fulfillment
- Winning and Losing in One-Click America
- By: Alec MacGillis
- Narrated by: Danny Gavigan
- Length: 12 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Alec MacGillis’ Fulfillment is not another inside account or exposé of our most conspicuously dominant company. Rather, it is a literary investigation of the America that falls within that company’s growing shadow. As MacGillis shows, Amazon’s sprawling network of delivery hubs, data centers, and corporate campuses epitomizes a land where winner and loser cities and regions are drifting steadily apart, the civic fabric is unraveling, and work has become increasingly rudimentary and isolated.
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Missing some important angles
- By D. Zimmerle on 08-19-21
By: Alec MacGillis
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Disney's Land
- Walt Disney and the Invention of the Amusement Park That Changed the World
- By: Richard Snow
- Narrated by: Jacques Roy
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
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This is a spectacular story of error and innovation, a wild ride from a vision to the realization of an iconic cultural landscape. It reflects the park’s uniqueness, but just as strongly that of the man who built it with a watchmaker’s precision, an artist’s conviction, and the desperate, high-hearted recklessness of a riverboat gambler.
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Okay, but better books on the subject
- By J.D. on 12-07-19
By: Richard Snow
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What listeners say about Life at the Dakota
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- NANCY MAY
- 06-12-20
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.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Arnold from Taylorsville NC
- 07-13-19
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.
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6 people found this helpful
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Fascinating Story - Social and Dwelling History
I lived a few blocks from this building in N.Y. and remember the night John Lennon was shot. I walked by this building almost every day and could not even remember what it looked like when I bought this book. An in-depth look into the early history of N.Y. dwellings and viewpoints of the neighborhoods. If you are involved with Real Estate at all this will be a very interesting book for you. If you enjoy stories about real people you will take a lot of pleasure from this book. Master storytelling. No matter what your interests are if you enjoy good stories you will enjoy this book. I will definitely be moving on to read his other books.
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8 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 11-04-20
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.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Susan
- 06-11-23
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.
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- Allyson
- 08-01-19
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.
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8 people found this helpful
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- CRISTINA RIVAS
- 07-02-20
Lovely Story
I liked the story and very eloquent by no means boring but I did not like the voices of the male characters they seemed women trying to speak like men. Other than that it is a very nice story.
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- Paul
- 12-04-21
A Fun Tour
I have been intrigued by the Dakota for decades so anticipated enjoying this journey through time. It was a bit circular a story, the quirky people past and present; the alterations past and present; the power struggles as well. But the narrator kept me engaged.
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- Anonymous User
- 05-03-21
Dated, but excellent collection of stories
Dated, but loved the story of the building especially of the original ownership. The stories of how the building was run in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were particularly interesting.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Etoile NEOhio
- 01-04-23
Has not stood the test of time
I had not realized when I selected this book to "read" that the publication date was August, 1979. I saw the audible and kindle release dates as being fairly recent and did not realize the original paper book was as old as it was. My 1st tip off to that was the author talking about John Lennon living in the Dakota in the present tense. Lennon died a short 5 months following the release of this book.
Although a great deal of the book is dedicated to the early years of the Dakota, by the time the author reaches the 1960s and beyond his idioms, and cultural stereotypes reflect an uncomfortable former era. Whether my discomfort with that is the result of the narrator's tone of voice, or truly what the author intended to convey might be a point of discussion.
I am finding some of Stephen Birmingham's books to be less effective than others, although his research is always impeccable.
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1 person found this helpful