These entries are accompanied by interviews with people who either knew Mazie, or became fascinated after hearing accounts of her bawdy, spirited life, and of her openhearted support of the Bowery's downtrodden. Despite frequent back-room boozing and romantic flings, Mazie becomes a "saint" to the suffering locals, chronicling in her secret diary hope, horror, and adventure. Mazie's seeming fearlessness and zest are haunted by childhood abuse, and when the Great Depression surges through the Bowery like a black wave, she welcomes anguished friends and strangers-many homeless-into the Venice Theater's comforting fantasies. A present-day documentarian acquires a 90-year-old diary, and is absorbed by the life of Mazie Phillips-Gordon-Jazz Age party girl, ticket-taker, and champion to addicts and bums on New York City's Lower East Side. Saint Mazie is a historical novel employing techniques traditional to oral storytelling.
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