Fire in the Belly : The Life and Times of David Wojnarowicz by Cynthia Carr goes to great lengths to provide the reader with a gritty picture of New York City in the 80's, a city in the harsh grip of poverty, drugs, violence and AIDS. Before gentrification and the lock-step conformity of Disney, the city portrayed here is SCARY, but the creative spirit of the players in this drama is inspiring, born of a blighted city...and DW's art, both sexual and political AND poetic was a forceful reminder for those who would rather forget about the rights and pain of those persons who inhabit a nether world outside the experience of the nuclear family, perhaps the result of that unit. I could not help but smile, reading about the city and artists that informed my artistic development, Ms. Carr painting a vibrant picture of a time before Facebook when the time's energy was palpable, not simply a cyber-illusion.
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