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A review by isabelmarks
St. Marks Is Dead: The Many Lives of America's Hippest Street by Ada Calhoun
FINALLY FUCKING FINISHED THIS. Very me to read 100 pages of it over three months and then 200 pages in one day. Go isabel tho.
My main complaint about this book was the very short chapter dedicated to AIDS. I think there should have been more??? Especially in a book chronicleing (i cant spell it and so i give up) the culture changes on a historically queer street, it was so jarring to hear so little. In general, I would have liked it if the book changed pace more often and dwelled on a few things, the constant stream of super short anecdotes started to get a little headachey and boring.
however, the book as a whole was very not boring!! super fast paced. I loved the emphasis on the class divides and cultural divides, the parts that resonated with me most were definitely when calhoun wrote about the Black and Latino families not understanding abbie hoffman burning money as protest because they didn't have money to spare and calhoun talking about how she wanted to live anywhere else growing up.
also the end was so helpful in learning more about giuliani & gentrification.
i also liked the vibe of this book a lot & think it did a good job at both romanticizing it and explaining the reality
My main complaint about this book was the very short chapter dedicated to AIDS. I think there should have been more??? Especially in a book chronicleing (i cant spell it and so i give up) the culture changes on a historically queer street, it was so jarring to hear so little. In general, I would have liked it if the book changed pace more often and dwelled on a few things, the constant stream of super short anecdotes started to get a little headachey and boring.
however, the book as a whole was very not boring!! super fast paced. I loved the emphasis on the class divides and cultural divides, the parts that resonated with me most were definitely when calhoun wrote about the Black and Latino families not understanding abbie hoffman burning money as protest because they didn't have money to spare and calhoun talking about how she wanted to live anywhere else growing up.
also the end was so helpful in learning more about giuliani & gentrification.
i also liked the vibe of this book a lot & think it did a good job at both romanticizing it and explaining the reality