Inside the Dream Palace: The Life and Times of New York's Legendary Chelsea Hotel

Tippins (February House: The Story of W.H. Auden, Carson McCullers, Jane and Paul Bowles, Benjamin Britten and Gypsy Rose Lee Under One Roof in Wartime America) examines another fabled New York building. Intended by architect Philip Hubert in 1884 as a utopian communal living space, the Chelsea quickly filled with residents both rich and poor. The dramatis personae of inhabitants features scores of notables, including Virgil Thomson, Dylan Thomas, and Arthur Miller. They found the bohemian chic of an "artistic collective" to be irresistible. But as the hotel's fame grew, there were ominous signs of change. The arrival of performers such as Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Patti Smith, and Sid Vicious and their fans saw a steady increase in drug use, crime, and even suspicious deaths, causing many of the longtime residents to flee. The author successfully charts the fascinating lineage of the once-celebrated hotel, still standing today, though a shadow of its former self, now facing yet another real estate developer with plans to transform it.