false 85862 2 An award-winning science fiction writer, esteemed professor of comparative literature at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and celebrated essayist and memoirist, Samuel Delany is one of America's keenest observers. He was also a longtime habitué of many of the sex theaters in New York City's Times Square, spending, by his own estimate, "thousands and thousands of hours" at the Capri, Variety Photoplays, the Eros, and the Venus. In the 1990s all of these theaters were shut down through new restrictive zoning laws, part of a combined effort by the Walt Disney Corporation and the administration of Mayor Rudy Giuliani to gentrify the area, replacing these seedily memorable institutions with antiseptic, innocuous architectural and cultural creations in the name of health safety. But as Delany reveals in his new book, <I>Times Square Red, Times Square Blue</I>, the decision to clean up Times Square had little to do with public health, and everything to do with corporate greed.<p> In the two essays that comprise this eloquent, provocative book, Delany grieves for the loss of this strip of sexual release. Though he is careful not to romanticize or sentimentalize the peep shows and porn theaters, he does illuminate the way in which these venues crossed class, racial, and sexual orientation lines, providing a delightfully subversive utopia--and a microcosm of New York life. In the first essay, "Times Square Blue," Delany details his shared erotic and conversational encounters with working-class and homeless men in the theaters (which primarily showed straight porn films) and the genuine friendships that resulted; these immensely personal reminiscences also provide a social history of late-20th-century Times Square. Drawing on historical and theoretical resources in the second essay, "Three, Two, One, Contact: Times Square Red," Delany next builds a thoughtful and passionate argument against the gentrification of the area and the classist, characterless direction in which he sees New York heading. Read together, the essays of <I>Times Square Red, Times Square Blue</I> are both heartfelt homage to a beloved city and lament for a quirky vitality increasingly phased out by encroaching capitalism. <I>--Kera Bolonik</I> 82859 1999 Times Square Red, Times Square Blue total:186|5:73|4:72|3:31|2:9|1:1| 186 765 288 23 5 0 false false Sun Oct 18 15:35:57 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 23 10:07:53 -0700 2009
Delaney lays out a solid argument for necessity of public spaces for sexual/socia...more...]]> 5 1 false false Sun Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Thu May 10 05:20:50 -0700 2007 Thu May 17 17:15:36 -0700 2007 shouldn't be that way. Anyone interested in the intersection of public pol...more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 29 08:51:09 -0700 2008 Sat Jul 26 12:33:21 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat May 24 11:46:45 -0700 2008 Sat May 24 12:10:18 -0700 2008 Death and Life...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Feb 20 14:20:22 -0800 2008 Wed Feb 20 15:07:17 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jun 16 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 18 15:46:42 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 18 15:48:28 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Dec 04 08:52:53 -0800 2007 Sat Apr 12 15:30:05 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Thu Nov 27 17:06:48 -0800 2008 Fri Nov 28 08:51:36 -0800 2008 2 5 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sat Jul 07 09:12:50 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 14 20:38:54 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Mar 16 09:06:38 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 08 07:27:39 -0700 2008 1 0 false false Wed Feb 20 20:22:35 -0800 2008 Thu Feb 21 11:18:14 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Fri Oct 26 07:46:21 -0700 2007 Sat Nov 10 21:03:38 -0800 2007 4 0 false false Wed Jan 30 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Jan 20 18:49:32 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 31 06:28:33 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Fri Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Sun Jan 27 15:56:12 -0800 2008 Sun Jan 27 15:58:21 -0800 2008 2 0 false false Sat Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Wed Aug 01 11:48:48 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 01 11:50:03 -0700 2007 really need to know about it!]]> 5 0 false false Sat Jun 02 21:16:03 -0700 2007 Sat Jun 02 21:17:47 -0700 2007 5 0 false false Wed Jul 04 22:23:15 -0700 2007 Wed Jul 25 13:01:35 -0700 2007 5 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2000 Sun Jan 13 17:21:31 -0800 2008 Sun Jan 13 17:22:54 -0800 2008 3 0 false false Thu Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2002 Sat May 26 14:15:29 -0700 2007 Sat May 26 14:16:31 -0700 2007 2 0 false false Sun Oct 19 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Oct 25 23:04:12 -0700 2008 Sat Oct 25 23:05:23 -0700 2008 ]]>