New Book: The End of the Hamptons

Posted by on April 1, 2005

[posted from Comm-Org]

I am very excited to let you know that my first book, The End of the Hamptons: Scenes From the Class Struggle in America’s Paradise, is now available from NYU Press. I’m very pleased with the job NYU has done with the book, but they are a small press with limited resources and so I am taking it upon myself to reach out to friends and colleagues to ask if they would request that their institution’s library purchase the book. If you need to lobby at all, here are some comments about the book from some pretty notable readers.

“An important book.”
–Howard Zinn, author of The Peoples History of the United States

“The Hamptons are dead! Long Live the Hamptons! In this book the summer playground of New York’s elite comes under a simultaneously sympathetic and critical microscope and the result is as delicious, and intellectually nutritious, as a Montauk seafood fiesta. Sharp and as jolting as the jitney journey from Manhattan, it is perfect beach reading, or enticing fodder for the downtime of long winters.”
–Neil Smith, author of American Empire: Roosevelt’s Geographer and the Prelude to Globalization

“Dolgon’s book is the perfect medicine for readers who are suffering from celebrity overdose. Informed by four-and-a-half centuries of conflict between locals and conquerors, his rich and lucid picture of the ‘other’ Hamptons completely demolishes the public image of the region as a playground for the uber-rich and the lumpen-bourgeoisie.”
–Andrew Ross, author of The Celebration Chronicles: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Property Values in Disney’s New Town

“A wonderful look at one of America’s most class-riven communities. The layers upon layers of neo-natives, one atop the other, tell a story oft repeated throughout the nation. An essential addition to the bookshelf of American leisure and urban planning.”
–Hal Rothman, author of Neon Metropolis: How Las Vegas Started the Twenty-First Century

I believe this story of how different groups of working and middle class people have fought (and continue to fight) to make their community an equitable and humane place to live is an enduring one. That part of this struggle involves challenging a pervasive national image of the Hamptons as a paradise for the rich and famous makes their story more complex, but also more compelling. I hope you’ll agree.

Thanks for helping out.

Peace,
Corey Dolgon
Cdolgon@worcester.edu