Life at the Dakota

Book excerpt: Life at the Dakota is a deliciously entertaining social history that describes the lives of the rich and trendy who have lived at the Dakota - a New York apartment house daringly erected in 1884, "too far up" and on the wrong side of town. This story has the fabulous characters, sharp insights, and captivating anecdotes of Stephen Birmingham's earlier works, and the atmosphere of the elegant Dakota is so powerful that the building itself becomes an unforgettable major character. The Gustav Schirmers were among the early tenants. Others such as Boris Karloff, Judy Holliday, Leonard Bernstein, and and Lauren Bacall would follow. In this edition the author has included an afterword on John Lennon's murder at the Dakota.