Description
One of the most fearless voices of New York’s East Village art scene. David Wojnarowicz (1954–1992) was a painter, photographer, filmmaker, and writer whose work fused raw autobiography with fierce political witness — and Memories That Smell like Gasoline, first published in 1992, gathers his unforgettable stories.
Written in prose that burns with urgency, these vignettes move between tenderness and rage: from his homeless teenage years hustling around Times Square to the devastating loss of his mentor and friend, photographer Peter Hujar, to AIDS. Few books capture the texture of downtown New York in the 1970s and 80s — or the cost of living and dying as an outsider — with such searing honesty.
A landmark of queer literature and art writing, this is essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary art, memoir, and the history of AIDS activism — the work of an artist who turned memory into a weapon and grief into art.
Memories That Smell like Gasoline
David Wojnarowicz (1954–1992) was one of the most fearless voices of New York’s East Village art scene — a painter, photographer, filmmaker, and writer whose work fused raw autobiography with fierce political witness. Memories That Smell like Gasoline, first published in 1992, gathers his unforgettable stories: from his homeless teenage years hustling around Times Square to the devastating loss of his mentor and friend, photographer Peter Hujar, to AIDS.
Written in prose that burns with urgency, these vignettes move between tenderness and rage as Wojnarowicz confronts a society that met the AIDS crisis with silence and scorn. Few books capture the texture of downtown New York in the 1970s and 80s — or the cost of living and dying as an outsider — with such searing honesty.
An Essential Voice of Art and Resistance
A landmark of queer literature and art writing, this is essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary art, memoir, and the history of AIDS activism — the work of an artist who turned memory into a weapon and grief into art.
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