"Inside the Combat Zone" : book presentation with author and reporter Stephanie Schorow

BOSTON - Oct. 10, 2018 - PRLog -- Inside the Combat Zone: The Stripped Down Story of Boston's Most Notorious Neighborhood. Book presentation given by author and reporter Stephanie Schorow. Hosted by the Friends of the Charlestown Branch of the Boston Public Library. Thursday, November 1, 6:00pm  Free and open to all, including a book signing and reception. Wheelchair accessible; conveniently located near the Orange Line and bus connections. Charlestown Branch Library, 179 Main Street, Charlestown, MA 02129. For more information: www.friendsofcharlestownlib.org, friendsofcharlestownlib@gmail.com, 617-242-1248.

Upscale restaurants, majestic theaters, and luxury condos line the streets of downtown Boston today. Students, office workers, doctors, and shoppers navigate the busy sidewalks along Washington and Boylston Streets, giving little thought to the historical significance of their surroundings.

The bustle distracts passersby from what may be the city's dirtiest little secret: these blocks were once home to Boston's most notorious neighborhood. The Combat Zone, a five-plus-acre, city-sanctioned "Adult Entertainment District," was as sordid and as alluring as anything found in Amsterdam or Vegas. Indeed, Boston's now tony neighborhood once resembled a scene out of HBO's The Deuce, all with the blessing of city officials.

In her provocative new book, Inside the Combat Zone: The Stripped Down Story of Boston's Most Notorious Neighborhood, veteran reporter Stephanie Schorow recounts the stories that made the Zone infamous. Meet the dancers who stripped to rock 'n' roll, the cops who tried to keep order on the streets, and the hookers turned tricks and slipped wallets from gullible men. Go beyond the enticing marquees promoting all-nude revues to discover how the Zone -- in an era dogged by miserable economics -- made millions from the dark side of desire.

With Inside the Combat Zone, Schorow examines the constitutional and societal issues that led Boston to engineer an audacious social experiment, heralded across the nation as the solution to the pornography epidemic. She introduces the players who made it possible and the antics and tragedies that unfolded as a result of their decisions.

The streets come alive through interviews with former city planners, strippers, and porn merchants. Some nostalgically recall the Combat Zone as a seductive adult playground where some found the freedom to express themselves; others remember it as a dangerous, crime-ridden skid row. Schorow deftly captures a moment in Boston's history that helped shape the city today – and will likely never be seen again.

Background information:

Stephanie Schorow is the author of six books on Boston history, including Drinking Boston: A History of the City and Its Spirits, The Cocoanut Grove Fire, and The Crime of the Century: How the Brink's Robbers Stole Millions and the Hearts of Boston. She has worked as an editor and reporter for the Boston Herald, the Associated Press, and numerous other publications.
www.stephanieschorow.com

The Friends of the Charlestown Branch of the Boston Public Library was formed in 1953, becoming the second Friends group to organize within the Boston Public Library system. The Friends schedule four to six evening programs a year, support the Reading is FUNdamental programs for children, and maintain the library's landscaping. The mission of the Friends remains today what it was in 1953: to serve as an advocacy and support group for the needs of the Charlestown Branch Library, its staff and users.
www.friendsofcharlestownlib.org
www.facebook.com/FriendsCharlestownBranchLibrary
.org/branches/charlestown.htm (http://www.bpl.org/branches/charlestown.htm)