Why people recommend it
Low Life by Lucy Sante is a gritty historical chronicle documenting the underworld, vice, and marginalized populations of early New York City across multiple centuries. Appearing on The Ezra Klein Show in the episode titled Why Trump Can’t Shake Jeffrey Epstein on July 18, 2025, Will Summer shared this title as his final book recommendation with host Ezra Klein. Summer described Sante's work as an exceptional volume that explores the history of organized crime and the various unsavory, scuzzy characters who inhabited New York over the course of the city's development. He noted that returning to the book is always a rewarding experience because it successfully transports the reader back in time to witness the raw, unpolished underbelly of America's largest metropolis. Summer's endorsement pointed to the book's capacity to illuminate the forgotten, seedier dimensions of urban history, offering readers a compelling glimpse into the criminal networks and social outcasts that shaped the city's colorful and turbulent past away from the polite narratives of mainstream history.
Who recommended it
- Will Summer Recommended
Will Summer — 1 mention
“And then finally, I would say Lucy Sante's uh book, Low Life, about the history of organized crime and kind of skezy characters in New York over the centuries is always a good one to visit and, you know, again, kind of takes you back.”