“Brickdust Row,” by O. Henry, is a short story that encompasses the powers of Coney Island. Coney Island was a place of leisure where people travel to escape the harsher realities of urban, industrial New York City. The island was especially popular among working-class New Yorkers because of its informal, carnival atmosphere and affordiable entertainment venues. However, as O. Henry's story reveals, more privileged New Yorkers often looked down on Coney Island's working-class amusement-seekers. In the story, a wealthy landowner named Blinker impulsively decides to go "slumming" at Coney Island. Florence is a young working woman whom Blinker meets there. Blinker's attraction to Florencecauses him to change his views on the park. The story's dramatic conclusion brings Blinker rudely back to reality and restores him to his former prejudices, while Florence remains a clear-headed and realistic working girl throughout the tale.

Click on the image to the left for the complete story.