Witty, terrifying, and utterly cool, Yablonsky’s roman à clef is a searing, hyperreal account of the heroin underground in 1980s Manhattan
Told with dark humor and unremitting honesty, Linda Yablonsky’s riveting first novel explores the New York art and postpunk music world of the early 1980s from deep within. Set in motion by the appearance of a federal agent, the tale follows two women on a dangerous and seductive journey through a bohemia where hard drugs, extreme behavior, intense friendships, and the emergence of AIDS profoundly alter their lives.
Amazon.com Review
The early '80s in the lower east side of New York was a thrilling time for the popular music and art culture created at the end of the punk and New Wave eras. It was also a devastating time of drug addiction and the beginning of AIDS awareness. In her stunning first novel, Linda Yablonsky, a survivor of that dangerous time, tells the story of a would-be writer turned heroin junkie who deals to queers, artists, punks, and yuppies. This is an exquisitely written, brutal, caring book.
From Library Journal
Like a grisly car accident that you can't tear your eyes from, Yablonsky's gripping look at a largely white, middle-class community of heroin users in 1980s New York City is vivid, absorbing, and very grim. As shared needles lead to HIV infection and then AIDS, the narrator of the book, an unnamed female user/dealer, tells an unglamorous, yet oddly seductive, tale that is by turns charming and horrifying. Harrowing descriptions of her drugsick, middle-of-the-night wanderings through crime-saturated neighborhoods provide an incisive glimpse into junk culture. Yablonsky, who has had her own battles with heroin, has written for many publications and has organized readings at several New York venues. Her first novel resists preaching and offers a clear-eyed view of one woman's descent and ultimate redemption. Highly recommended.?Eleanor J. Bader, New Sch. for Social Research, New York Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Description:
Witty, terrifying, and utterly cool, Yablonsky’s roman à clef is a searing, hyperreal account of the heroin underground in 1980s Manhattan
Told with dark humor and unremitting honesty, Linda Yablonsky’s riveting first novel explores the New York art and postpunk music world of the early 1980s from deep within. Set in motion by the appearance of a federal agent, the tale follows two women on a dangerous and seductive journey through a bohemia where hard drugs, extreme behavior, intense friendships, and the emergence of AIDS profoundly alter their lives.
Amazon.com Review
The early '80s in the lower east side of New York was a thrilling time for the popular music and art culture created at the end of the punk and New Wave eras. It was also a devastating time of drug addiction and the beginning of AIDS awareness. In her stunning first novel, Linda Yablonsky, a survivor of that dangerous time, tells the story of a would-be writer turned heroin junkie who deals to queers, artists, punks, and yuppies. This is an exquisitely written, brutal, caring book.
From Library Journal
Like a grisly car accident that you can't tear your eyes from, Yablonsky's gripping look at a largely white, middle-class community of heroin users in 1980s New York City is vivid, absorbing, and very grim. As shared needles lead to HIV infection and then AIDS, the narrator of the book, an unnamed female user/dealer, tells an unglamorous, yet oddly seductive, tale that is by turns charming and horrifying. Harrowing descriptions of her drugsick, middle-of-the-night wanderings through crime-saturated neighborhoods provide an incisive glimpse into junk culture. Yablonsky, who has had her own battles with heroin, has written for many publications and has organized readings at several New York venues. Her first novel resists preaching and offers a clear-eyed view of one woman's descent and ultimate redemption. Highly recommended.?Eleanor J. Bader, New Sch. for Social Research, New York
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.