Very good book. Began it about 15 years ago and just could not get the first chapter. I decided to give it a 2nd chance and once again the first section is a little unique for a book - all seen through the eyes of a Midget - but I stayed with it and really enjoyed the book. I look forward to reading the next book of the series which is Paradise Alley.

This was not nearly as good as Paradise Alley. Too many characters means not enough depth to really know them. And I have no idea why Freud and Jung had to make such a long appearance as all they did was distract from the story

Starts off pretty interesting. The author paints New York as a carnival set on Coney Island. But the characters are really mere brush strokes used to illustrate his view of the City. The story line is pretty flat, and characters are not very compelling. Eventually the narrative drags on too long, and I at least just wanted to turn the last page so I could close the book.

I found the book interesting, and I came away feeling somewhat illuminated. Initially I was very enthusiastic about the story, but at some point I realized that it wasn't going anywhere.

How is it possible that Essie was at the Dreamland fire if she dies in the triangle shirtwaist fire? Chronological this is impossible...while I love this for the history of New York from back in the day, the book was a hard read and struggle to get through...I wanted more, or less, but this wasn't it...

It's a complicated relationship that I've developed with this book. There were segments I loved and characters that I adored, but there were parts that I hated and characters that I found irrelevant. The overall story--historical fiction of Coney Island, gangsters, and the working woman's strife in early 20th century NYC--was completely compelling, and the detail he goes into was great. You felt like you were truly in the setting. The scenes with Kid and Gyp were fraught with tension, you relationships that developed between Kid, Esther, Gyp, and Sadie were engrossing and you found yourself coming down on distinct sides, and that was great. What I ultimately think I needed was for it to be about 200 pages shorter, completely eliminating the Freud story line and pretty much all of the Big Tim stuff, with the story completely focused around the big 4--Esther, Kid, Gyp, and Sadie, and including enough of Trick's story to see where he fit in to all of the plot.

There was just a bit too much of the story that felt unnecessary. Yet, I don't regret reading it--if only for the story that developed between the four of them.

This book is definitely a new favorite. It grips the reader from all angles, is rich and intelligent, alternately comical and gut-wrenching, and is both plot AND character driven.

My only complaint would be the (near) ending. While, intellectually, I can appreciate its utter uniqueness, it seemed a bit too solemn (if provocative) for a novel that was such a dreamscape up until that point. It seemed somehow unfulfilling.

All in all, a fabulous read.

Dreamland, Coney Island -- outwardly it was a glittering paradise, but scratch the surface and you find an inner core of cruelty and corruption. Baker meticulously researched Coney Island for this work of historical fiction and did a masterful job of bringing it back to life -- the sights, the smells, the noise. Despite all its tawdriness, Dreamland was quite literally a dream land -- where ordinary people could temporarily forget their daily burdens.

The cover art depicts a Ferris wheel, which is an apt metaphor for the story. Coney Island is the hub, and the stories of the immigrants, carny workers, Tammany Hall, garment union, gangsters, prostitutes, etc. are all spokes on that wheel.

Baker details the grinding hardship of the NYC immigrant experience, with a particular focus on Jews and the garment trade. The author was especially effective at capturing the plight of women workers; his portrayal of the union strike and its ramifications is particularly gripping.

I was surprised to learn how many of the colorful characters (particularly the gangsters) were based on real people. Some characters, like Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, are well known. The two visited Coney Island prior to speaking at Clark University. Some readers may find the Freud/Jung sections a bit ponderous. (Having graduated from Clark with a major in psychology, I was more engaged by this part of the plot than others might be.)

Coney Island in the early party of the Twentieth century, A city of Midgets, the seamy underworld of New York City, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire , a love story. What more do you need from a book?

I found this book in a library in our son's apartment building in New Jersey (found out later that the author is from the same town in NJ). When I started reading it, I thought I might not finish it. The beginning describes some very violent, horrific scenes - a rat-dog fight, innocent bystanders being snatched up and having their backs broken by a gangster for the amusement of the crowd. But I kept reading because the writing is good, the author is reputable and does meticulous research, and I am interested in the history. I am so glad I did not stop reading! The gory, horrific scenes are not common throughout the book; they are mostly in the start. The times and conditions reported in the book are depressing, but the characters are well fleshed out so that they are real and multi-dimensional human beings. And, indeed, most of the characters ARE REAL PEOPLE. The story is so outlandish and bizarre that I kept saying to myself, "can this be true? How much of this historical fiction is really not fiction?" So, of course, I looked it up. OMG Truth really is stranger than fiction. So many of the characters are actual people from history; so many events are accurately reported; the parks: Dreamland, Luna Park, the dwarf city, the elephants, etc. - it's all true. The author does mix up dates some. For instance, Freud and Jung's visit to the U.S. was a little earlier than the other events in the book. But they did visit and have the experiences in the book, at least many of them. I wasn't too thrilled with the ending, but it made sense. I won't say more in order not to alert readers to the ending. This is a book I think we all should read, especially in this political environment when unions are being busted and the corporations are re-gaining all the power. We have been down that road and need to be reminded of why we have workers rights and government intervention.

Very compelling and I plowed through it wondering how all the disparate threads would wind together but not all of them really did. The end kind of fell apart and even the author gave up in choosing how to wrap it all up. Fun to go through but I wish I stopped before the last 20-30 pages.

Another instance where choosing a random book at the library paid off! I have recently watched PBS' documentary on the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, and it was fascinating to read a fictional account of a young Jewish girl's experiences working there. Her story is interwoven with several others in New York City shortly after the turn of the century and I was quickly sucked into the book. The only storyline that I just didn't get and didn't understand it's relevance was that of Freud & Co.'s visit to New York. There is also a glossary of Yiddish/Irish/turn-of-the-century gang speak that I didn't know was there until I was half-way through - it was really helpful and I wish I had realized it from the beginning. That aside, this was a really good read and apparently it is part of a trilogy, so I will shortly be seeking out the second installment.

I thoroughly enjoyed Dreamland. Although the characters are basically archetypes of gangsters, whores, corrupt policemen, corrupt politicians, factory workers, Socialists, etc., Baker has developed the main characters into believable - if not terribly likable - individuals. Through these characters, Baker does an excellent job at portraying the brutality of life in turn-of-the-century New York City. He describes the futility felt by the working poor, women, disillusioned immigrants, and the outcasts so well that you're thankful that you live at the turn of this century rather than the last.

At the same time, Coney Island represents an escape from that life. It gives the poor somewhere to go that is a spectacular distraction from their lives, and provides a type of excitement that is relatively harmless - unlike the excitement generally offered by gang turf wars. Coney Island also provides the poor with a brief feeling of superiority, as they jeer at other people being zapped by cattle prods and otherwise made to look like fools.

However, I wasn't attached to any of the characters. I sympathized with the women, but didn't actually like any of them. I could have done without the great head doctors entirely. The only character I liked at all was Kid Twist - and I'm not really sure why.