Home No. 5

I’ve been working on a new novel. It spans several decades and begins in 1919. The other day someone suggested I watch “Boardwalk Empire” if I wanted to learn more about the Prohibition Era. But I don’t want to watch a modern day interpretation of that era. I want to view that time through the eyes of someone who saw it while it was happening.

I didn’t go to film school so forgive me about not knowing the existence of “Manhatta.” It was made in 1921, and this New York Times article proclaims it the first avante-garde film made in the U.S. The version I’ve linked to is shaky and dirty and smudgy but I don’t mind it, though I know film purists would object. Mostly I love the obsession the filmmaker had with smoke. There is even a climax of smoke near the end of the film. And I love how the buildings were so tall already. New Yorkers, always climbing over each other to get to the sky first.

My favorite line of text: “Where the city’s ceaseless crowd moves on, the live long day.”