Pearl Polly Adler (1900-1962) was a diminutive dynamo whose Manhattan brothels in the Roaring Twenties were key gathering places where high society mingled with violent underworld figures—and had a good time doing it. As a Jewish immigrant from eastern Europe, Polly Adlers life is a classic American story of success and assimilation that starts like a novel by Henry Roth and then turns into a glittering tale straight out of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Debby Applegate tells the jaw-dropping story of a notorious madam who as much as any single figure helped make the twenties roar. This program is funded, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. This event took place on November 10, 2021.