Great Fortune: The Epic of Rockefeller Center
Those of us who love New York tend to love the city passionately, for its past as well as its present. Daniel Okrent'sGreat Fortune: The Epic of Rockefeller Centeris a book for New Yorkers from Ashtabula to Zimbabwe: a study of ambition, audacity, and deal-making on a grand scale that led to the construction of some of the most famous skyscrapers in the world.   The cast of characters includes not only the many and diverse members of the Rockefeller family, but other powerful New York institutions such as Columbia University, the Metropolitan Opera, the Museum of Modern Art, andThe New York Times--not to mention the radical Mexican artist Diego Rivera, theNew Yorkercartoonist William Steig, the Marx Brothers, and a bevy of "Rockettes."   Okrent's narrative neatly balances the epic and the intimate; he offers both authoritative pronouncements on modern architecture and reams of good gossip.  Like New York itself,Great Fortunecontains multitudes: densely packed, it remains surprisingly--and welcomingly--commodious.--Tim Page--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.