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[solarpsychedelic]

I finished the Tama Janowitz book. Overall, I enjoyed it as a period piece to go with Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney and Less Than Zero by Brent Easton Ellis.

The characters in Slaves of New York live in the space between the last remnants of funky 70s New York and 80s glammed up New York. Some of the stories were more interesting than others, yet I like her writing style. Descriptive, with sudden and witty turns of phrases.

While reading, I thought back to other 80s pop culture trends in storytelling like The New Yorker magazine where I read new fiction and stand up comedians like Judy Tenuta, Emo Phillips, and Louie Anderson. I also thought about the Memphis Milano design and art trend, displayed on the set of the Pee Wee Herman Show.

The 80s had a lot of quirky, diverse creativity still in the mainstream. But it was also a time of casual racism, homophobia, and transphobia. We’ve come a long, long way from those days.

I also thought while reading that Slaves of New York is something of a predecessor to Sex and the City. It’s like the arty Greenwich Village version of Carrie and the girls and Charlotte got the art gallery job.

4 stars. The better stories were at the beginning and the end of the collection and the middle part dragged. Oddball, morally ambiguous characters. The writing was excellent.