'I'd love to be Jami Attenberg for a day to see what she sees. Mazie's rise to 'sainthood'-and her irrepressible spirit-is unforgettable. 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. 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. Then, more than ninety years after Mazie began her diary, it's discovered by a documentarian in search of a good story. 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.

Addicts and bums roam the Bowery homelessness is rampant. When the Great Depression hits, Mazie's life is on the brink of transformation. But her high spirits mask a childhood rooted in poverty, and her diary, always close at hand, holds her dearest secrets. 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. Meet Mazie Phillips: big-hearted and bawdy, she's the truth-telling proprietress of The Venice, the famed New York City movie theater.

Saint mazie book