Saint Mazie: A Novel | F.L.O.W. library | TinyCat |

2024-04-30 8:22 pm

Saint Mazie: A Novel

by Jami Attenberg

Hardcover, 2015

Status

Available

Genres

Historical Fiction

General Fiction

Publication

Grand Central Publishing (2015), Hardcover, 336 pages

Description

"Meet Mazie Phillips: big-hearted and bawdy, she's the truth-telling proprietress of The Venice, the famed New York City movie theater. It's the Jazz Age, with romance and booze aplenty--even when Prohibition kicks in--and Mazie never turns down a night on the town. But her high spirits mask a childhood rooted in poverty, and her diary, always close at hand, holds her dearest secrets. When the Great Depression hits, Mazie's life is on the brink of transformation. Addicts and bums roam the Bowery; homelessness is rampant. If Mazie won't help them, then who? When she opens the doors of The Venice to those in need, this ticket-taking, fun-time girl becomes the beating heart of the Lower East Side, and in defining one neighborhood helps define the city. Then, more than ninety years after Mazie began her diary, it's discovered by a documentarian in search of a good story. Who was Mazie Phillips, really? A chorus of voices from the past and present fill in some of the mysterious blanks of her adventurous life. Inspired by the life of a woman who was profiled in Joseph Mitchell's classic Up in the Old Hotel, SAINT MAZIE is infused with Jami Attenberg's signature wit, bravery, and heart. Mazie's rise to "sainthood"--and her irrepressible spirit--is unforgettable"-- "From the New York Times bestselling author of The Middlesteins comes a stunning novel about a Prohibition-era bad girl turned good: Saint Mazie, Queen of the Bowery"--… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member froxgirl

Unusual concept - taking a real character from another writer's story and creating a fictional character from the original. But anyone with the monicker "Queen of the Bowery" would be an interesting study in any context. Mazie's sisters, lover, and Sister Tee, her best friend who's a nun, are

almost as compelling as Mazie herself. She spends her days, during the Depression and WW II, as the cashier at the Venice Movie Theatre and her nights aiding the indigent men of the streets. As Mazie and her family move through the city, each neighborhood is described in depth through Mazie's cynical yet empathetic eyes. Especially stimulating is her blissful solo commute (not approved of for women on the time) on the opening of the subway line from Coney Island to Manhattan.

As personal and historical tales of the eras and the locales go, this would be one of the best.

LibraryThing member bookappeal

Attenberg's novel is inspired by the story of a real Mazie, working on the Lower East Side of New York City in the 1920s and 1930s who became a saint for the bums and the homeless, a population that increased greatly after the Stock Market Crash, and for which there was very little help. But, in

other ways, Mazie is no saint! She's a drinker and smoker and likes to party. She likes plenty of men but traditional love and marriage elude her. She loses patience with Rosie, the older sister who saved her from their abusive father, but who would prefer to keep Mazie locked safely in a cage. Told mostly through Mazie's diary entries and interviews with people who knew her or knew of her, Mazie's story absolutely shines. A true broad with a great figure and a soft heart of gold who gave whatever she could to the men who had nothing, living in the streets of the city because "somebody loved them once, and that's all you need to know." Mazie's story is captivating with ups and downs, joys and sorrows, and Mazie's unique voice.

LibraryThing member brangwinn

Using basic facts about a real New York City woman who lived during the Depression, Attenberg has created historical fiction using format of oral history to tell the story. Mazie never married, she had the same job in a movie theater for her entire working life, and yet this gritty, earthy woman

impacted the lives of many of the lower east side’s homeless. She walked the streets at night looking for those she could help. A Jew, whose best friend was a Catholic nun, drank and swore, yet had a heart of gold. She was the glue that held her fragile sister together after the death of Mazie’s brother-in-law. I probably wouldn’t have liked Mazie, the author never makes her loveable, as Mazie shows her love for humanity through often brusque actions.

LibraryThing member katiekrug

I am not going to try to describe much about this novel, except to say that it was a big-hearted, fun, vivid read with a central character wonderfully rendered as larger than life but still believable. I love novels about loneliness and connection, family both real and constructed, and alienation.

Saint Mazie has all this but it's not sad or bleak. It's about trying to make one's corner of the world a little better and understanding that sometimes that's enough, that it is okay to be fully present in what *is*, rather than always chasing more.

LibraryThing member cjordan916

Meet Mazie Phillips: big-hearted and bawdy, she's the truth-telling proprietress of The Venice, the famed New York City movie theater. It's the Jazz Age, with romance and booze aplenty--even when Prohibition kicks in--and Mazie never turns down a night on the town. But her high spirits mask a

childhood rooted in poverty, and her diary, always close at hand, holds her dearest secrets.

When the Great Depression hits, Mazie's life is on the brink of transformation. Addicts and bums roam the Bowery; homelessness is rampant. If Mazie won't help them, then who? When she opens the doors of The Venice to those in need, this ticket taking, fun-time girl becomes the beating heart of the Lower East Side, and in defining one neighborhood helps define the city.

Then, more than ninety years after Mazie began her diary, it's discovered by a documentarian in search of a good story. Who was Mazie Phillips, really? A chorus of voices from the past and present fill in some of the mysterious blanks of her adventurous life.

Inspired by the life of a woman who was profiled in Joseph Mitchell's classic Up in the Old Hotel, SAINT MAZIE is infused with Jami Attenberg's signature wit, bravery, and heart. Mazie's rise to "sainthood"--and her irrepressible spirit--is unforgettable.

LibraryThing member maryreinert

After a slow start, this book became entertaining, sad, funny, and realistic. Mazie Phillips grew up in a neighborhood of poverty and when the Depression hit, it became worse. She is living with her sister, Rosie and her husband, Lewis who owns a movie theater along with other vague businesses.

Mazie's younger sister, Jeannie, has managed to escape the house and works as a dancer. Mazie is big-hearted to a fault. As the ticket seller at the theater she meets many individuals of various backgrounds including "The Captain", a Navy officer who has an affair with Mazie and Sister Tee, a Catholic nun who becomes Mazie's good friend.

The story is told from excerpts of Mazie's diary and from short "interview like" stories from those that knew Mazie including neighbors and fellow workers at the theater. Life was not easy for Mazie and she didn't always make the best decisions, but she left a big impression on those that knew and loved her. Mazie eventually spent much of her money helping the bums during the Depression never asking questions or expecting anything in return. (I believe based on a real person from that time period).

LibraryThing member chasidar

I really enjoyed the audiobook of Saint Mazie. The different voices of the characters were wonderful! And I enjoyed hearing about the history of New York. When I finished the book I discovered that it's based on a real person, which just added to the enjoyment. Definitely recommended.

LibraryThing member hoosgracie

Told in diary/interview format, Saint Mazie is a fictional portrait of Mazie Phillips-Gordon, a good time girl turned do-gooder in the early 20th century. New York City is as important a character as Mazie, her two sisters, and the other characters. While I enjoyed the story, due to the format, it

could be a bit jumpy and I found the end very abrupt and dissatisfying.

LibraryThing member Fnarkle

Provides a credible visit to the Bowery of the 1920s-'30s. Told with heart, with shmutz and tears and booze. On niggling objection: Telephone calls from San Francisco to NYC were probably uncommon in that era and were certainly expensive. US Mail, of course, most common and telegrams more likely,

but for big news conveyed quickly.

LibraryThing member porch_reader

Mazie Phillips and her sister Jeanie are rescued from a difficult home life by their older sister Rosie and her husband Louis. Through journal entries and interviews with people connected with the Phillips sisters. Mazie works in a ticket booth in Louis's theate, and there, she gets to know the

people who walk the streets of New York City - police officers, nuns, businessmen, and families. And as NYC falls into the Great Depression, Mazie helps however she can, handing out coins and apples, treating each person she meets as a person. This book is the story of Mazie and her sisters, but it is also the story of NYC.

LibraryThing member BettyTaylor56

This fiction book is based upon the life of real-life Mazie Phillips-Gordon (Queen of the Bowery). She was the ticket booth lady at the Venice Theatre in the 1920’s. Mazie was somewhat wild, which I guess wasn’t that unusual at the time. But she also had a heart of gold, helping the homeless

with little acts of kindness. It is written as journal entries from Mazie, along with snippets of interviews from people who knew her. However I found there were too many people to keep track of, people that just pop up in the story with no real background information to determine their importance on Mazie’s life. The entire book just seemed too disconnected to me. I would have liked to have known more about Mazie but I didn’t get much from this book.

LibraryThing member TooBusyReading

Because I enjoyed the author's novel The Middlesteins, I thought I would enjoy this one despite the tepid reviews I read. Those reviewers were not wrong.

Loosely based on a real person, this fictional account imagines the life of Saint Mazie, a woman who spent most of her life working in a tiny

ticket counter in an increasingly rundown theater, but a woman who also wanted to help the homeless and destitute she saw from her little cage every day.

The story could have been interesting, but it was too choppy for me. It was told from many points of view, diaries and an autobiography, snippets of interviews, many different characters, and some of them did not do much of a job of introducing themselves early on. I'd read a name, and start reading what he or she had to say about Mazie, and wonder, who the heck is this person?

The characters just didn't make me care about them very much. They were somewhat multifaceted, and it wasn't a matter of disliking them – they weren't evil. I just didn't care much one way or the other what happened to them.

While this was supposed to be about someone who helped the people of the street, that part was a relatively minor part of the story. Close to the end of the book, one of the characters says about Mazie, “The early thirties, she was just starting to become the person she was going to be, if that makes any sense.” This book took much too long to become the story it was going to be. It just didn't work well for me.

I was given an advance reader's copy of this book for review, and the quote may have changed in the published edition.

LibraryThing member Barbaralois

Good story of lady that really lived in the poor area of NYC in the early 1900s and how she lived and tried to help many of the street people

LibraryThing member Maydacat

It’s the Jazz Age, but for every person who spends the night reveling at a speakeasy, many more spend their waking hours working but barely surviving. Prohibition and the Great Depression bring additional problems and heartache. Through it all, the brave and hardy struggle on, but in New York, in

the Bowery, one woman will eventually emerge as the soul of city. Mazie Phillips, rescued by her older sister from a weary and brow-beaten mother and a cruel and despicable father, will herself become a rescuer for the homeless men who roam the streets. In this work of historical fiction, Mazie seems like an unlikely savior. She loves to party, drinks to excess, looks for love in all the wrong places, and has no qualms about speaking her mind. But she is generous to a fault, looks after her own, and, and in time, comes to realize that all humanity is her own. A fascinating read about a remarkable woman.

LibraryThing member Beamis12

Absolutely wonderful, though when I first started I wasn't sure if I was going to like this book. By the time I finished I felt as if I personally knew Maize, so much so, that if I met her on the street I would give her a big hug. The author did such a great job with this book and the characters

within.

The story is told in journal entries by Maize, interviews by the writer of the book in the novel in the present day, interviewing those ancestors of the people who knew Maize and a few narrative entries.
Maize was quite the character, loved to drink and loved the streets of New York in the beginning of the 1900's. The depression in particular was amazingly described, the changes in New York, the east end and the bowery. All the bums Maize tried to help, families she provided for and her friendship with a sister of the Catholic faith, a faith Maize didn't believe in.

This story is based on a real person, Maize Gordon who did indeed do the things in this novel, but since very little information was available the author took what she could and wrote, this amazing story.
The real Maize was written up by Joseph Mitchell in a short story form the New Yorker, and is contained in his book of short stories.

Loved Maize's feistiness and her complicated personality. She truly was an angel of mercy for many.

ARC by publisher.

LibraryThing member juliecracchiolo

Mazie Phillips’ story opens in1907 when she receives a diary for her 10th birthday. Rescued from her abusive parents and poverty in Boston by her sister, Rosie, she is now a New Yorker. Mazie LOVES New York. She loves it streets, the men and women who live there, the air, everything. The diary

entries are typical of a developing young lady. As the Jazz Age blossoms, Maize blossoms. The entries are spasmodic until about 1916.
Rosie had married a wealthy man who owns the Venice movie theater. Now Rosie is sick, and Mazie needs to help at the theater. Her brother-in-law, Louis, needs someone who is honest and good with money. Therefore she is put in the ticket cage. She feels like a caged animal.
Mazie knows everyone in the neighborhood---from the bums to the upper lower class. That’s who lives in the Bowery. Then the Great Depression hits. Poverty and homelessness become more widespread. By this time, Mazie owns the Venice and throws it open to those most in need. Oh, she’s still showing the movies, but those who need a warm/cool place to stay for awhile are welcome.
The diary entries continue to be spasmodic and include a chorus of voices that help fill in Mazie’s story. While Attenberg’s story ends in 1939, the “Queen of the Bowery,” as she was known, died in 1961.
I was attracted to this story for two reasons: 1) Supposedly more than 90 years after Mazie began writing in her diary, it’s discovered by a documentarian in search of a good story. However, readers never hear from the movie-maker until the last third of the book. It didn’t work for me. 2) Maize was a real person living; she was profiled in Joseph Mitchell’s Up in The Old Hotel, a collection of short stories based on real people.
I was never able to get into the plot or the characters. In my opinion, Attenberg wasn’t able to pull off the story. That’s why I’m giving Saint Mazie two out of five stars.

LibraryThing member ashleytylerjohn

This was a disappointment, and I stopped reading about halfway through (my father has terminal cancer and I'm acutely aware of the limited time we all have ... I should undoubtedly have stopped sooner!)

Basically this didn't grab me, and it continued to not grab me until it was very easy to walk

away from. The main character has no especially redeeming qualities (she doesn't seem especially kind, smart, interesting, brave, unusual, etc.), reminding me of other self-deluded heroines such as that wretchedly superior forensic scientists Kay Scarpetta in Patricia Cornwell's novels, or Rue McClanahan in My First Five Husbands and the Ones Who Got Away, the autobiography of Rue McClanahan. And, like in those books, neither the character nor author seem aware that she's actually somewhat dreadful.

For an epistolary novel there is very little evidence that some speakers/writers are different from the other characters who speak/write their thoughts. There is no plot to speak of, though occasionally there are events. Mazie is apparently a real person, or based on a real person, who became beloved due to her philanthropy, I supposed, but midway through the novel there's very little of that. So all I'm left with is the diary of complaints from an unpleasant main character who spends most of her time stamping her foot, wishing she could sleep with more men, and worrying her family (who seem like nice people).

(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s).

LibraryThing member sandylw

Mazie was a woman who grew up in New York and worked at the Venice Theater selling tickets. She lived with her sister Rosie and Rosie's husband, Louis. She spent her days in a "cage" selling tickets and meeting people, including a nun named Sister Tee. Sister Tee walks the streets helping the

homeless. Mazie and Sister Tee begin to take walks together and eventually, Mazie takes on the same humanitarian works of mercy. When the depression struck and left many homeless, Mazie was able to walk the streets and help these men. She gave them money and items like soap and blankets. The story is told through Mazie's diary and a interviews with neighbors and friends. Mazie was a real person who did practice generosity and cared for the homeless, but the story is a fictionalized account told in journal style. I loved the book and thought the real Mazie came through. You could hear her voice throughout the book.

LibraryThing member nivramkoorb

Having recently read " All Grown Up" by the author, I decided to follow up with her previous book to that one. I was somewhat disappointed in this one. It was completely different from " All Grown UP". It was fiction based on the life of a real person Mazie Phllips-Gordon. She worked in the ticket

cage of the Venice Theater in the Bowery section of New York from 1918 until the early 40's. The book tells her story as if it is an unauthorized biography using Mazie's diary and covers her life from 1907 until 1939. It is also interspersed with comments from current day people who either knew her or had a family member that knew her. It was a good book because you got the feel of l life in New York during those times but I found the style of the diary to not be sustainable for reading enjoyment. Mazie was a complex character who eventually made her name as the Queen of the Bowery. This had to do with her giving handouts to the downtrodden, especially during the depression. To me the story came across like reporting and I really never felt I knew the character in depth because she was constantly moving through time. If you are new to Attenberg I suggest "All Grown Up" is a better first choice.

LibraryThing member CarrieWuj

Pleasantly surprising with some depth and plot twists that were not expected. Mazie Phillips is the quintessential good-time girl in NYC in the 19-teens and twenties. The story is told through her diary and excerpts of her unpublished autobiography and interviews with a few key people with ties to

her. She works for her brother-in-law, Louis, selling tickets at his movie theater, back when the ticket booth was literally a small booth ("cage" Mazie calls it)outside on the sidewalk. She sees a lot of humanity that way, along with her visits to speak-easies and love of the streets. The appeal here is her love of life -- all of it, the good and the bad. She isn't necessarily immoral, she just wants to live deeply and her whole heart is in it. Once the depression hits, her true colors shine and she begins looking out for the riff-raff she is so comfortable among. Louis has some shady businesses, but a heart of gold, so with his money, Mazie is able to make a difference in her small corner of the world, with the bums in the Bowery. Sister Tee, a Catholic nun is her inspiration and dear friend, but Mazie does her service more out of love and understanding than a religious motivation. Mazie's sisters Rosie and Jeannie also figure prominently in the novel -- they are ties she will never break, much like the "cage" she will never break out of.

LibraryThing member Jonez

3.75

Written in a mix of epistolary and interview format, Saint Mazie tells a fictional account of the true-life Mazie Gordon Phillips. This story is a love letter to both New York and the family. The relationship Mazie had with her family, her sisters (one mentally ill, one prodigal) and her

brother in law, as well as her street family, was truly heartwarming. As was her love for the city she lived in. I fell in love with these characters and this story. However, Attenberg bites off a bit more than she can chew by throwing in so many stories in one place, and never really quite having the time to flesh out any of the side stories of those on the periphery. Most of that material seems just tossed in to add layering to a story that truly didn't need it. I think a more bare-bones account would have worked just as well, if not a bit better.

The story also suffers from a bit of poor pacing as well. The most interesting part of Mazie's life, her helping out the down-and-outers that circled her cage at the Venice, was saved till the very end of the book. Less than 100 pages are dedicated to what she was known for, and much more is dedicated to speculation surrounding her personal life. This is something for readers to keep in mind that are hoping to hear a bit more of this real woman's life. If you want to know more about the real Mazie, I suggest reading the piece done in the New Yorker "Mazie" by Joseph Mitchell.

Overall, I did enjoy this fictionalization and Attenbergs attempt and filling in those blanks for us. A fine book, and honestly one I will probably read again.

LibraryThing member oldblack

I liked this book. Not fantastic, but quite readable with a reasonable level of depth in its exploration of life in early 20th century New York city. Attenberg's creative format for telling of a story based on a real person worked well for me. I quickly learned to manage the multiple person and

time perspectives, despite my age and mental inadequacies. One thing which troubled me a little was that I couldn't really understand why the sisters each took off on such different but committed paths, and why one of them seemed to slip into a prolonged mental illness. I guess we readers are not reading a psychologist's case notes, we're reading a story about a person and their 'observed' behaviour. And much of human behaviour is inevitably a mystery.

LibraryThing member beentsy

I really enjoyed this book. I liked how the story was fleshed out by a wide variety of people telling their memories or their family's memories of Mazie, sometimes many, many years later.

And I kind of loved Louis. He was such a gently and kind man at home with his family but had so many layers of

life happening outside of the home.

Awards

Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize (Longlist — Fiction — 2016)

Language

Original publication date

2015

Physical description

336 p.

ISBN

1455599891 / 9781455599899

Local notes

Fiction

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