Detroit's Paradise Valley (MI) (Images of America) | 
| Author: Ernest H. Borden
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Category: Book
List Price: $19.99
Buy New: $12.27
You Save: $7.72 (39%)
New (15) Used (6) from $9.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 343281
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 128
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.7 x 7.1 x 0.4
ISBN: 0738531553
Dewey Decimal Number: 977.434
EAN: 9780738531557
ASIN: 0738531553
Publication Date: August 2, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New, Perfect Condition, Please allow 4-14 business days for delivery. 100% Money Back Guarantee, Over 1,000,000 customers served.
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
One of the most prominent and dynamic African-American neighborhoods in U.S. history, Paradise Valley served as a social and cultural mecca for Detroitis black community from the 1920s through the 1950s. Now the site of stadiums and freeways, the area was once home to places like the Gotham Hotel and the Surf Club, and welcomed the likes of Billie Holiday, Joe Louis, and Sammy Davis Jr. This book uses more than 200 previously unpublished photographs to take readers on a rare tour of the entertainers, entrepreneurs, businesses, and events that made the now-lost Paradise Valley legendary. YY
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| Customer Reviews:
 A Bitter Disappointment January 29, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I was really disappointed in this book. I am from Detroit and I have heard stories about Paradise Valley over the years. When I saw this book, I was thinking to myself 'Great, now I can get the real story on this place that no longer exists.' Boy was I wrong. I thought this book was going to have pictures of places that existed in Paradise Valley and pictures of residents who used to live in this community. Maybe some comments from the actual residents that are still alive and can talk about where everything was and what was happening during those years. No!This book is filled with nothing but the author's pictures and stories of his uncle's hotel and his uncle. Almost every page has a picture of this man and it talks about his hotel. Okay, I understand that this is the author's uncle and he was a successful black businessman for that time but not every page in the book should have been concentrated on him. The book didn't even tell you where Paradise Valley began and ended or that it was destroyed to make way for the freeway I-75. No pictures of other places that were within Paradise Valley. Nothing that makes me say 'WOW this is Paradise Valley.'
This book has a misleading title. Instead of being called Paradise Valley, it should be called Gotham Hotel within Paradise Valley. If I didn't know a little history, this book would make you think that the Gotham Hotel was Paradise Valley and nothing or no one else existed.
 Paradise Valley October 25, 2003
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Outstanding, comprehensive discourse on the Paradise Valley, Sugar Hill, and Black Bottom sections of Downtown Detroit, told through words and an abundance of pictures. Especially informative regarding the symbiotic development of entertainment (jazz, theatre, culinary, and sports) industry, manufacturing, international immigration, and political movement, in the post-slavery pre-civil rights era, with a focus the history of one of the richest nuclei of Black culture in the United States. The area covered is one of the final stops on the Underground Railroad--this book describes the evolution in cooperation in tradition and community among the various races and cultures of which Detroit is comprised. Though the buildings themselves are gone, the cultural mark of Paradise Valley on the Detroit area, Southeastern Michigan, and the world, is still powerfully felt. Essential and enjoyable reading for anyone interested in the history, development, and future of this culturally rich and diverse area, by one of the individuals best-equipped to tell the story. Highly recommended.
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