Phil Albinus = father of three, husband, magazine editor, paperback hound, frustrated drummer, and aspiring novelist. I wear khakis - got a problem with that?
You know you’re reading a sharp critic when you want to scream, “Holy shit, yes!” in a quiet train car. In his memoir of scuzzy yet glittering 1970’s Manhattan, James Wolcott captures my thoughts on Bruce Springsteen when he writes about the Boss’s famous show at the Bottom Line in 1975: “This is very exciting. Why am I not excited?”
Wolcott, whom I never really liked, dazzles in these 258 pages. It’s five chapters covering life at the Village Voice, being friends with movie grand dame Pauline Kael and catching Patty Smith, Television and Talking Heads at CBGBs and more. One of the best chapters starts out with Wolcott’s brave tour of the porn theaters on Eight Avenue and 42nd Street and then evolves to wondrous celebration of ballet. I guess hot bodies are hot bodies but I was impressed that Wolcott’s transition from frottage to tutus was so seamless.
Another hallmark of a talented writer. Lucking Out by James Wolcott. Buy it.
