New York, New York: Jazz, Fame, and the Shifting Identity of a Postwar Generation

By Tim Madsen

New York, New York: Jazz, Fame, and the Shifting Identity of a Postwar Generation is a sweeping cultural and critical study of Martin Scorsese's most misunderstood film-a lavish musical that masks a deeply introspective exploration of identity, gender, ambition, and the American mythos.

Set in the jubilant aftermath of World War II and released in the disillusioned America of the 1970s, New York, New York captures a generation caught between the promise of reinvention and the pressure to perform. Through the tumultuous relationship between saxophonist Jimmy Doyle and singer Francine Evans, Scorsese paints a portrait of artistic passion, emotional fracture, and the costs of public recognition.

This book explores the film in ten deeply researched and thematically rich chapters, moving from the evolution of jazz and the gendered performance of fame to racial erasure, postwar cultural expectations, and Scorsese's auteur evolution. With clarity and depth, it reveals how New York, New York uses stylized artifice to confront uncomfortable truths-and why its resonance has only deepened over time.

Part film study, part cultural history, New York, New York: Jazz, Fame, and the Shifting Identity of a Postwar Generation is essential reading for cinephiles, scholars, musicians, and anyone interested in the complex dance between art and identity in modern America.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0FL3GM4CW
• ISBN13: 9798296469724
• Release Date: August 2025
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 34 Pages
• Weight: 0.23 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 8.5" x 11.0"