Stephen Birmingham (1929-2015) was an American author of more than thirty books. Born in Hartford, Connecticut, he graduated from Williams College in 1953 and taught writing at the University of Cincinnati. Birminghams work focuses on the upper class in America. Hes written about the African American elite in Certain People and the prominent Jewish society in Our Crowd: The Great Jewish Families of New York, The Grandees: The Story of Americas Sephardic Elite, and The Rest of Us: The Rise of Americas Eastern European Jews. His work also encompasses several novels including The Auerbach Will, The LeBaron Secret, Shades of Fortune, and The Rothman Scandal, and other nonfiction titles such as California Rich, The Grandes Dames, and Life at the Dakota: New Yorks Most Unusual Address.
Description
Reviews
Praise for "Our Crowd"
“You don’t have to live on Manhattan’s West Side to appreciate this gossipy history of New York’s oldest apartment building. . . . A lively story.”
— Kirkus Reviews
While the territory has been well mined, Mr. Birmingham has discoveries guaranteed to surprise… Trenchant observations permeate this book. The way they take your breath away makes this the literary equivalent of a cardiac arrest.
— New York Times Book Review
Throughout there is the larger immigrant experience—the flight from Europe, the tenement lives, the move into better neighborhoods and suburbia—told with a narrative flair certain to win many readers.
— Publishers Weekly
“When it comes to the folkways of the rich, the powerful, and the privileged, Stephen Birmingham knows what he’s talking about.”
— Los Angeles Times