South Street

South Street is Barbara G. Mensch's evocative tribute to the lost world of Lower Manhattan's Fulton Fish Market. For more than a century, a colorful, tightly knit community of fishmongers, many of them recent immigrants and children of immigrants, thrived under the base of the Brooklyn Bridge. Resistant to government regulations and corporate encroachment, these men lived in a closed, internally policed world that was deeply hostile to outsiders. As a young photographer in the early 1980s, Mensch bonded with this particular group of "authentic New Yorkers," becoming a confidante for their life stories, which were often filled with hardship, mystery, and misadventures. These striking photographs capture the unique personality and fierce secrecy of their vibrant working-class culture. Combined with lively commentary—reminiscent of Studs Terkel's riveting oral histories—the images offer a rare peek inside a society described by Philip Lopate as "a precious last vestige of historic Gotham." Mensch's story ends with the closure of the docks and the opening of the Seaport mall, a symbolic victory of corporate interests over more than a century of mob rule. Her visual essay recounts the driving forces and the effects of this urban transformation on the entrenched community of fishmongers, creating an enduring historical document. Though the Fulton Fish Market no longer resides below the Brooklyn Bridge, the history and energy of this cherished New York City landmark are beautifully preserved in this book.

Arts & Photography

Mensch, Barbara

Individual Artists

Columbia University Press

South Street is Barbara G. Mensch's evocative tribute to the lost world of Lower Manhattan's Fulton Fish Market. For more than a century, a colorful, tightly knit community of fishmongers, many of them recent immigrants and children of immigrants, thrived under the base of the Brooklyn Bridge. Resistant to government regulations and corporate encroachment, these men lived in a closed, internally policed world that was deeply hostile to outsiders.As a young photographer in the early 1980s, Mensch bonded with this particular group of "authentic New Yorkers," becoming a confidante for their life stories, which were often filled with hardship, mystery, and misadventures. These striking photographs capture the unique personality and fierce secrecy of their vibrant working-class culture. Combined with lively commentary—reminiscent of Studs Terkel's riveting oral histories—the images offer a rare peek inside a society described by Philip Lopate as "a precious last vestige of historic Gotham."Mensch's story ends with the closure of the docks and the opening of the Seaport mall, a symbolic victory of corporate interests over more than a century of mob rule. Her visual essay recounts the driving forces and the effects of this urban transformation on the entrenched community of fishmongers, creating an enduring historical document. Though the Fulton Fish Market no longer resides below the Brooklyn Bridge, the history and energy of this cherished New York City landmark are beautifully preserved in this book.

This book documents D.H.Lawrence's uncanny insight into and protrayal of the destruction of self and society inherent in authoritarianism. The author begins her study with detailed definitions of the operative terms upon which the book is based, "fascism", "authoritarianism" and "totalitarianism". Using these definitions, she builds a comprehensive psychological profile of the authoritarian personality, based on authoritative studies by Wilhelm Reich, Ernst Nolte, T.W.Adorno and others. Applying this profile to the characters of "Women In Love", "Aaron's Rod", "Kangaroo", and "The Plumed Serpent", Mensch shows how Lawrence's minor characters are often clearly defined authoritarian types, while the major protagonists of these novels, on the other hand, exhibit few, if any, authoritarian characteristics.

D.H. Lawrence and the Authoritarian Personality

Literature & Fiction

History & Criticism

PALGRAVE~MACMILLAN

A photojournalism of South Street and the Fish Market and immigrant culture on the New York City Waterfront.

The last waterfront: The people of South Street

Freundlich Books

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Mensch, Barbara. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Mensch, Barbara

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Mensch, Barbara. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

South Street

South Street

D.H. Lawrence and the Authoritarian Personality

The last waterfront: The people of South Street