Knickerbocker: The Myth behind New York

Product Description

Deep within New York’s compelling, sprawling history lives an odd, ornery Manhattan native named Diedrich Knickerbocker. The name may be familiar today: his story gave rise to generations of popular tributes—from a beer brand to a basketball team and more—but Knickerbocker himself has been forgotten. In fact, he was New York’s first truly homegrown chronicler, and as a descendant of the Dutch settlers, he singlehandedly tried to reclaim the city for the Dutch. Almost singlehandedly, that is. Diedrich Knickerbocker was created in 1809 by a young Washington Irving, who used the character to narrate his classic satire,
A History of New York. According to Irving’s partisan narrator, everything good and distinctive, proud and powerful, about New York City—from the doughnuts to the twisting streets of lower Manhattan—could be traced back to New Amsterdam. Terrific general interest, cultural history of a city with a rich and lively literary past. First-ever book on the eponymous myth that has informed New York City culture since the early 1800s. Coincides with the two-hundredth anniversary of Washington Irving’s publication of
A History of New York. Perfect gift book or addition to library collection of New York Cityùthemed books.
Includes a gallery of images that brings Diedrich Knickerbocker, his myth, time, and place to life Knickerbocker engagingly traces the creation, evolution, and prevalence of Irving’s imaginary historian in New York literature and history, art and advertising, from the early nineteenth century to the present day. Who would imagine this satiric character, at once a snob and a champion of the people, would endure for two hundred years? In Elizabeth L. Bradley’s words, “Whether you call it ‘blood,’ style, attitude, or moxie, the little Dutchman could deliver.” And, from this engaging work, it is clear that he does.
Bradley’s stunning volume offers a surprising and delightful glimpse behind the scenes of New York history, and invites readers into the world of Knickerbocker, the antihero who surprised everyone by becoming the standard-bearer for the city’s exceptional sense of self, or what we now call a New York “attitude.”

From Publishers Weekly

Diedrich Knickerbocker, a fictional man of stature, flamboyance and Dutch lineage, gets a history and identity worthy of New York’s swagger in this exploration by Bradley (a contributor to
The Encyclopedia of New York City) of how Knickerbocker shaped the city’s identity. The narrator of Washington Irving’s
A History of New York, Knickerbocker has charmed readers since 1809 with his half-fantastical urban history, one that inspired local pride at a time when, according to Bradley, the city faced an identity crisis. Peppered with anecdotes, such as Knickerbocker’s claiming of the doughnut for his city, Bradley’s account maintains that the proud Dutchman inspired New Yorkers to assert their own idiosyncratic relationship to the city, and to its history. Knickerbocker was appropriated: for political gain during FDR’s presidency, commercial reward for countless businesses and sports promotion for teams like the New York Knicks. While Bradley’s flat prose fails to match the Knickerbocker’s largesse, literary historians and proud New Yorkers alike will delight in the character who brought pomp and legend to the city first nicknamed Gotham by Washington Irving 200 years ago.
(July)
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Review

Knickerbocker is a storied name steeped in tradition–one that I am proud to have been a part of. Bradley’s Knickerbocker: The Myth Behind New York offers a unique examination of how a name familiarized by Washington Irving two hundred years ago grew to become a cultural symbol of New York.–Former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley

Those who puzzle at the incessant branding and rebranding of New York City would do well to read this fascinating, sophisticated, and witty social