You are so kind, Terry 🙏🏽 I do feel quite beholden to many essayists and journalists who have come before, especially those pushing the boundaries in the 1960s and ‘70s.
I can see that. You have such depth of experience crystallized into memories involving writing and reading in the days of paper and beyond which have morphed into clouds of absent presences. The values and norms of collegial relationships as well as good humor and a charitable attitude warm your words and do indeed invoke a palpable nostalgia—your nostalgia uncorked by freaks and phantoms of memory. What I found stunning was this: I do not share your knowledge of those you remember (no name recognition) and recognize intimately maybe just three or four of the books you mentioned (Middlemarch, Feminine Mystique, Pride and Prejudice, another…nope). But I felt nostalgic! Knocked my socks off. You have some secret sauce. Btw, my favorite chapter of all time is Chapter 4 in Mystique: The Comfortable Concentration Camp. I also loved the visuals, the old time cartoons, even something from a home economics textbook
Terry, I'm touched by this comment, and I'm so glad that my feeling for certain books and writers you didn't recognize comes across. That's one of the biggest challenges in essay writing, because the references a writer makes are so personal and specific; I would never assume a reader, regardless of their age or circumstances, would know all the things I've experienced or read. So, my job is to give the specifics life, to indicate why they spark a trail of feelings for me that a reader is meant to follow.
This is so illuminating to me! As a 1990 arrival in NYC from across the country, I never quite "got" the Village Voice. It felt loaded with insider knowledge that I didn't have, so I learned to use it for movie and restaurant and activity suggestions and leave the articles. I appreciate it so much more now as a place where experimental and progressive writers got to cultivate a style and an audience.
Your Orlando reference is brilliant in this light and turns a history/collective memoir into something much more breaktaking: "everything was partly something else." That is the fundamental work, I think, of enchantment. Inspiring!
Thanks so much, Tara. Glad you liked the *Orlando* reference, one of those surprising connections I didn't expect myself. I think for lots of people, the *Voice* was about restaurant and movie listings (or the Classifieds to find apartments). On the West Coast, *Rolling Stone* was more of a go-to alt-journalism read (not to mention the *Bay Guardian*), but I always resented the veiled macho of RS. Whenever I was in NYC, I'd grabbed the *Voice* (copies would often be lying around in cafes), and it felt like a cultural mainline to something ... different. An enchantment with a City I didn't understand as a Californian but dearly wanted to :-)
I can see how the Voice would have been like a key to a certain understanding of (and maybe belonging in) the city. My enchantment was walking and gaping: architecture, faces, foods. Eventually I learned how to get into the best rooms of the libraries, but by then it was time to leave. I did love how most people I met were from somewhere else, like me (Washington).
I've been on a long list at the library. After your review, I may have to break down and buy this book. Laurie Stone, whom you mentioned, writes here and is one of the most original voices I've found on Substack.
Love this, and all things Village Voice. I wrote about, too. https://randyosborne.substack.com/p/the-freaks-came-out-to-write
Beautiful writing! Absolutely stunning!
You are so kind, Terry 🙏🏽 I do feel quite beholden to many essayists and journalists who have come before, especially those pushing the boundaries in the 1960s and ‘70s.
I can see that. You have such depth of experience crystallized into memories involving writing and reading in the days of paper and beyond which have morphed into clouds of absent presences. The values and norms of collegial relationships as well as good humor and a charitable attitude warm your words and do indeed invoke a palpable nostalgia—your nostalgia uncorked by freaks and phantoms of memory. What I found stunning was this: I do not share your knowledge of those you remember (no name recognition) and recognize intimately maybe just three or four of the books you mentioned (Middlemarch, Feminine Mystique, Pride and Prejudice, another…nope). But I felt nostalgic! Knocked my socks off. You have some secret sauce. Btw, my favorite chapter of all time is Chapter 4 in Mystique: The Comfortable Concentration Camp. I also loved the visuals, the old time cartoons, even something from a home economics textbook
Terry, I'm touched by this comment, and I'm so glad that my feeling for certain books and writers you didn't recognize comes across. That's one of the biggest challenges in essay writing, because the references a writer makes are so personal and specific; I would never assume a reader, regardless of their age or circumstances, would know all the things I've experienced or read. So, my job is to give the specifics life, to indicate why they spark a trail of feelings for me that a reader is meant to follow.
And you did just that:) I didn’t know it at the time I started reading but it was strong at the end. Very Nice read!
So interesting - great insights into a disappearing culture.
Thanks for this great celebration and for the mention!
This is so illuminating to me! As a 1990 arrival in NYC from across the country, I never quite "got" the Village Voice. It felt loaded with insider knowledge that I didn't have, so I learned to use it for movie and restaurant and activity suggestions and leave the articles. I appreciate it so much more now as a place where experimental and progressive writers got to cultivate a style and an audience.
Your Orlando reference is brilliant in this light and turns a history/collective memoir into something much more breaktaking: "everything was partly something else." That is the fundamental work, I think, of enchantment. Inspiring!
Thanks so much, Tara. Glad you liked the *Orlando* reference, one of those surprising connections I didn't expect myself. I think for lots of people, the *Voice* was about restaurant and movie listings (or the Classifieds to find apartments). On the West Coast, *Rolling Stone* was more of a go-to alt-journalism read (not to mention the *Bay Guardian*), but I always resented the veiled macho of RS. Whenever I was in NYC, I'd grabbed the *Voice* (copies would often be lying around in cafes), and it felt like a cultural mainline to something ... different. An enchantment with a City I didn't understand as a Californian but dearly wanted to :-)
I can see how the Voice would have been like a key to a certain understanding of (and maybe belonging in) the city. My enchantment was walking and gaping: architecture, faces, foods. Eventually I learned how to get into the best rooms of the libraries, but by then it was time to leave. I did love how most people I met were from somewhere else, like me (Washington).
I've been on a long list at the library. After your review, I may have to break down and buy this book. Laurie Stone, whom you mentioned, writes here and is one of the most original voices I've found on Substack.
I feel like it's a treat when Laurie gives us glimpses of the New York progressive literary scene as she knew it.