Madison Square Tragedy
The Murder of Stanford White
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $6.99
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
Nominee, Reuben Award for Best Graphic NovelBringing to life turn-of-the-century New York and the scintillating career of one of its most famous architects, as well as the vices that cost him his life, this true-crime graphic novel tells the story of one of the most scandalous murders of the times. Stanford White was one of New York's most famous architects, having designed many mansions and the first Madison Square Garden; his influence on New York's look at the turn of the century was pervasive. As he became popular and in demand, he also became quite self-indulgent: he had a taste for budding young showgirls on Broadway, even setting up a private apartment to entertain them in, including a room with a red velvet swing. When he met Evelyn Nesbit—an exquisite young nymph, cover girl, showgirl, inspiration for Charles Dana Gibson's drawing The Eternal Question and later for the movie The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing—he knew he was on to something special. However, Evelyn eventually married a young Pittsburgh decadent heir with a dark side who developed a deep hatred for White and what he may or may not have done to her.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
If Nancy Grace had been around in 1906, she would have covered the murder of Stanford White, an architect of many of New York City's greatest landmarks. White was shot that year by psychopathic rich boy Harry Thaw, because of a previous affair that White had with Evelyn Nesbit, a famous model, who later became involved with Thaw. A media sensation of the day, Nesbit graced the covers of magazines, and eventually began performing on Broadway. In Geary's account, neither White nor Thaw comes off as upright citizens. When Thaw's attention falls onto Evelyn, he pursues her relentlessly until she marries him. When he discovers that White slept with her, he becomes enraged, torturing and raping Evelyn, and obsessing over how to destroy White. At first glance, Geary's artwork appears stiff, almost sterile, but as the story unfolds, the line work captures the strangeness and excesses of the era's wealthy. As with previous entries in Geary's series of graphic novels books exploring famous murders, this is a steady and enthralling account of White's murder which also provides an impressive narrative of Nesbit's ability to survive in a world of men trying to control her and bend her to their wills.
