“Join the discussions of the misfits who have shaped the world of music, film, and pop culture. From the pure chaos of life on the road to the everlasting legacies that they leave, both memoirs and biographies of these individuals who drifted just off the beaten path.
This month we'll discuss Adele Bertei's intimate insider's account of New York's most radical cultural revolution and the women who obliterated every barrier in their path, No New York: A Memoir of No Wave and the Women Who Shaped the Scene.
“No New York is an utterly compulsive and passionate memoir of this mythic epoch where the true runaways and renegades of ground-zero punk colluded, communed, and conspired. A riveting and beautiful account, both radical and reflective, ultimately acknowledging the holistic power of faith to light the way forward.”—Thurston Moore
“No New York is an important document about a criminally overlooked aspect of art history. This book sets the record straight and illuminates the power, glory, and atomic energy that was No Wave. It is a direct account from someone who was at the epicenter of the movement and is a story that is perhaps more relevant and necessary at our present moment in time. It’s also a page-turning, thrill-ride New York story, and right up my alley.”—Michael Imperioli
In 1975 a young queer singer from Cleveland meets Nan Goldin and joins her in New York's bombed-out downtown, where something unprecedented is brewing. At Max's Kansas City and CBGBs, in derelict lofts and underground clubs, a generation of visionary women artists is rewriting the rules of creativity, sexuality, and power.
Adele Bertei didn't just witness the No Wave explosion—she ignited it. As acetone organist for the Contortions and Brian Eno's assistant, she was at the epicenter when punk collided with post-punk, when Lydia Lunch screamed her first songs, when Kathy Acker was penning her transgressive novels, when Kathryn Bigelow was making her first films.
No New York reveals the untold story of the boundary-pushing women who made No Wave possible: Nan Goldin capturing flash-lit portraits of gender fluidity, Barbara Kruger deconstructing media, Kiki Smith exploring the body's mysteries, Lizzie Borden challenging cinema itself. While mainstream culture wallowed in sexism and homophobia, these artists created something fluid, fierce, and transgressive.
Raw and gripping, No New York takes readers deep into the artistic and sexual experimentation of an era when everyone read Jean Genet, quoted Antonin Artaud, and believed true expression mattered more than money or fame.
Includes 55 rarely seen images of iconic musicians and artists that capture the look and feel of the era. Images are from Bertei's personal collection as well as well-known artists and photographers like Nan Goldin, Richard Prince, Vivienne Dick, Michael Granros, Marcia Resnick, and Julia Gorton.”