“Paris is a cunt.” These four simple words, muttered in a preternaturally husky rasp by pinhole-pupiled Lindsay Lohan as she snickered in the strobe light glare and high-volume snapping of paparazzi cameras outside of the Roosevelt Hotel (which is now an overstuffed migrant shelter), perfectly encapsulate the gossip rag-driven cultural moment of the 00s (or … Continue reading
Tag Archives: book review
Fuck It All!: Thomas Kinkade Goes Dark and Other American Shitposts in Jordan Sullivan’s “Booze, Bullshit & Buttfucking”
I’ve recently been suffering from a fever. No, not that kind of fever. I’ve been struck with a Thomas Kinkade fever! Yes, the less-than-esteemed painter of shopping mall schlock (before the fall of malls) and the bane of snotty critics recoiling at the satiated bad tastebuds of Americans enamored with all those little queasily quaint … Continue reading
Never Can Say Goodbye: Eric Sneathen Conjures Gaétan Dugas (Aka ‘Patient Zero’) and Other Ghosts in “Don’t Leave Me This Way”
Eric Sneathen’s Don’t Leave Me This Way, published recently by Nightboat Books, is a ghost story. Ok, the book is not a ghost story in any traditional sense. There are no vengeful ghosts banging open closets or throwing silverware around after being summoned by a Ouija Board or, as in Danny and Michael Philippou’s film … Continue reading
American Schemers and Dreamers: Zany Tales from a Nation in Decline in Drew Buxton’s “So Much Heart”
Americans are never happier than when they’re getting in on a scam. Or so said comedian Tim Dillon in a set I saw at The Stand in April (and as a former subprime mortgage hocker, he should know). If he’s right—and as much as I’ve rambled about con art as America’s foremost artistic discipline on … Continue reading
What The Fuck Is With “Feral City: On Finding Liberation in Lockdown New York”?
It’s cliché to point out that people in the United States now exist in completely different realities, typically broken down by political leanings. Just hop on any social media platform and you can bear witness. For one faction, Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton are eating babies and guzzling adrenochrome in the basement of a strip … Continue reading
You Are A Star And You Only Happen Once: madison moore’s “Fabulous: The Rise of the Beautiful Eccentric”
“I want you to teach me how to be fabulous,” pleads Macaulay Culkin inhabiting the role of infamous club kid Michael Alig in 2003’s cheeseball Party Monster. In response, Seth Green’s James St. James spits back, “We have nothing in common,” picks up his metal lunchbox/purse, and changes his mind, quoting William Blake: “The road … Continue reading
One Day This Kid…: Ed Hamilton’s “Lords Of The Schoolyard”
“One day this kid will get larger,” begins the text on David Wojnarowicz’s well-known Untitled (One Day This Kid…), which came into larger public consciousness as a benefit print for the anti-bullying It Gets Better Project. With a central photograph of Wojnarowicz as a child surrounded by text, the piece documents the physical and emotional violence … Continue reading
Plastic Fantastic Lover: Amanda Lepore’s “Doll Parts”
Amanda Lepore isn’t afraid of exposing herself. Whether showing up to chic events near or completely naked or purring over club hits like “Champagne” (“I drink champagne in the morning/I drink champagne in the afternoon”) and “My Pussy” (“My pussy is famous/My pussy is expensive”) with Larry Tee, Lepore puts herself (and her pussy) out there. … Continue reading