ON THE TOWN: 100 YEARS OF SPECTACLE IN TIMES SQUARE, by Marshall Berman, Random House, 264 pages, $25.95
"On the Town" focuses on New York City's most remarkable landmark, Times Square, and its allure — "a continuous carnival" and "the crossroads of the world."
The author, Marshall Berman, is both a native New Yorker and a prolific writer about politics and society.
Infused with a number of pictures and drawings depicting the history of Times Square, Berman's book covers the waterfront — from 100 years of song, film and literature, to Eisenstaedt's famous V-J Day kiss. He carefully depicts the culture of women as sex objects as well as authentic human subjects, probably the best illustration of the contradictions of this place.
Although the square has been electrified by movies, graphic arts, literature, popular music and television — it is probably
Broadway and its live theater that best symbolize its impression on every American. Such names as Theodore Dreiser, Florenz Ziegfeld, Ethel Merman, Al Jolson, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen symbolize the vast star power generated.
Most obviously known for its massive signs, Times Square has sometimes had signs that were a whole block long. As Berman writes, "They have been extravagantly lit with whatever the state of advertising art allows: with thousands of bulbs, with lovely neon calligraphy, with tremendous spotlights, with throbbing and exploding computer graphics; any style, any technology will do if it can knock us out."
Ironically, as Berman notes, "The two most famous people in the history of Times Square are anonymous. They are a man and a woman locked in each other's arms." They were in the huge crowd that gathered in the Square on Aug. 15, 1945, V-J Day, the day and night of Japan's surrender and the official end of World War II."
A sailor and a nurse were photographed by Alfred Eisenstaedt, and they were on the cover of Life magazine. Victor Jorgensen, a U.S. Navy photographer, took them from an opposite but less sexy angle that appeared in The New York Times. This photo symbolized a moment of rare spontaneity.
Even though a number of men and a few women have claimed to be the couple in this embrace, there has never been enough proof. "The real kisser (and we should say 'kissee') remains everyman."
And so is Times Square.
E-mail: dennis@desnews.com