Madam: The Biography of Polly Adler, Icon of the Jazz Age

November 11, 2022

Pearl “Polly” Adler (1900-1962) was a diminutive dynamo whose Manhattan brothels in the Roaring Twenties became places not just for men to have the company of women but were key gathering places where the culturati and celebrity elite mingled with high society and with violent figures of the underworld—and had a good time doing it.

Debby Applegate uses Polly’s story as the key to unpacking just what made the 1920s the appallingly corrupt yet glamorous and transformational era that it was and how the collision between high and low is the unique ingredient that fuels American culture.

Related Articles

Common Ground

by Gayle Guynup  While I generally do not discuss politics in public, today, it seems, almost everything has a political slant to it. So, I am going to skirt the issue by noting that in this world where everything and everyone is so terribly divided, perhaps it is...

read more

College Scholarships Awarded to Local Area Students

by Jessi Each year, The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee awards education scholarships to qualified applicants attending College, Community College, Vocational/Technical School or University.  Chaired by Laura Briefman, this year the Education Scholarship...

read more

Back to School with PJ Library

by Jessi  While sending kids back to school is a hectic time for parents, we have a lot to look forward to. Our yeladim (children) are going to learn so much, meet new teachers, reunite with friends and make new ones.  Even though most of our little ones attend...

read more
Share This