The Architect of Desire: Beauty and Danger in the Stanford White Family

This is an exceptional read. Well written, with heart, attention to detail and inspiration. It could pass as a lovely piece of fiction, but it is all true.

Suzannah Lessard is to be complemented on this reflective and perceptive account. The family skeletons are unquestionably out of the closet, as she narrates the heartrending story of Evelyn Nesbitt, Harry K Thaw and her own ancestor's intertwined lives. If you have read "Ragtime", this is the non-fiction truth behind the tale. The murder of the brilliant architect - the "White" in McKim, Mead and White, whose clients included the Teddy Roosevelt White House -shocked New York's 400. This book deals not only with the events as they unfolded but also their repercussions in the author's family. Well written and poignant.

Powerful, lyrical writing builds the story of Stanford White one layer at a time. The writer, his granddaughter, is uniquely qualified to tell the tale of genius gone awry. You'll remember this story long after you finish it -- a sure sign that you've experienced not just a book, but true art.

Before I start to review the book, I must say that I have been fascinated by the story of the death of Stanford White since the first time I heard it when I was in my teens. Of course, I was fascinated in a very `young' way. Something on the order of `You mean they did those things back then, too.' And the book satisfied (and broadened) my by now adult fascination. What a pleasure to read.Ms. Lessard (White's great-granddaughter) has written a brilliant family history, showing how White's death affected the family through 4 generations.But the book is far from merely a family history. The author discusses througouht the book her own love-hate relationship with her great grandfather and the beautiful and (for her) frightening architecture he left behind. From the New York Public Library to her own college and New York's Washington Square arch, White's architecture is everywhere.The author is unsparing in her judgements of White, and perceptive in her conclusi! ! ons about him. And what's more, I learned the facts of the story from the inside, which constituted a fascinating and satisfying quest.I would fail in my efforts to review this book if I didn't mention the pleasure and excitement that I felt while immersed in Ms. Lessard's description of the Gilded Age. Is it because we are at the end of the century now as well that the Gilded Age retains its fascination? I can't say. But she does a masterful job of evoking the era.And the almost legendary people who make appearances: Stanford White, Evelyn Nesbit, John Barrymore, Harry Thaw. What a fascinating book. I would say it's the best book of it's type I've ever read, but I'm not sure what type it is. However, it is deeply satisfying and interesting in the most intimate of ways.And what conclusions is one to draw about Evelyn Nesbit, the woman (girl) in this legendary menage a trois. One of her lovers murdered by another of her lovers when she was 21 in 1906. And she ! ! lives until at least 1955. No wonder the story still has a! hold on our collective imagination.And I only have time to mention one of the real (and unexpected) `stars' of the book. Box Hill, the White family home on Long Island. The book is too multi-layered to discuss the home here, but it is the backdrop for much of the `action' of the book, and leaves a lasting impression on the reader.The book is dedicated to William Shawn of the New Yorker, and all I can say is that I'm sure he would be pleased with Lessard's effort.