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You should read this book. And then talk to me about it. I picked it up to do some research for a TV show I’m trying to write, and I found myself completely wrapped up in it.
In the first essay (there are two) Delany talks about his personal experiences in Time Square from the sixties through the nineties. It’s warm, insightful, heartfelt, and completely non-judgmental in the best way possible. He talks with hustlers, homeless people, and everyone else who frequented the porn theaters near 42nd street, bringing to life a world that I certainly never knew. And he does it all without making it a nostalgia piece for something we can never return to.
The second essay is more scholarly and a bit tougher to get through than the memoir style of the first. That said, it’s incredibly insightful about class, gender, and how we connect as humans. His main point is that “networking” is inherently limited as an opportunity for success, but we’ve moved to it almost exclusively. He offers “contact “as another option, which requires public spaces which aren’t divided by class as a matter of course.
I haven’t wrapped my mind around it all, but it’s kept me thinking. I’m especially interested in what we give up when we disallow sex in the public sphere. I’ll keep thinking, and if you read it let’s talk.