NYC Sex: How New York Transformed Sex in America

by SCALA, Martin Duberman, Joan Nestle

The diversity of New York City's people, cultures, religions, and backgrounds make it the indicator of American sexuality. It is black, white, gay, straight, rich, poor, rough, and tender all at once. From Margaret Sanger's dissemination of birth control to the Stonewall riot of 1969, New York City has repeatedly seen its sexual dynamics changed and American and international culture follow suit. Published to coincide with the much-anticipated opening of the Museum of Sex in New York, NYC Sex features conversations between major cultural figures and historians on sexual topics, including Grady T. Turner on "Sodom on the Hudson"; Martin Duberman and Joan Nestle on queers; Timothy J. Gilfoyle, Xaviera Hollander, and Tracy Quan on whores; Karen Finley, Luc Sante, Gene Simmons, and Art Spiegelman on the underground; and Vanessa del Rio, Legs McNeil, and Annie Sprinkle on porn. And what's a book about sex without pictures? In between the steamy conversation, NYC Sex posts photographs by Mapplethorpe, Ferrato and Gatewood; 19th-century drawings and photographs; film stills; posters; magazine pin-ups; and images of sex symbols past and present. It's a treat the whole family can enjoy. NYC Sex is the official book of the inaugural exhibition of the Museum of Sex, which will open in New York in September. "Well before New York was regarded as a center for high art, the Bowery was already the capital for popular and fringe culture...the Bowery was an open valve that functioned as a release in New York City. Anything might go on in the Bowery, and be marginally tolerated as long as it was sufficiently concealed." --Luc Sante Essay by Grady T. Turner. Conversations with Martin Duberman, Joan Nestle, Timothy J. Gilfoyle, Xaviera Hollander, Tracy Quan, Karen Finley, Luc Sante, Gene Simmons, Art Spiegelman, Vanessa del Rio, Legs McNeil and Annie Sprinkle. Paperback, 8.25 x 10 in., 224 pages, 150 color Scala Publishers

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Sexuality

224 pages, Paperback

First published September 15, 2002

About the author

Scala specialises in producing illustrated books for museums, galleries, libraries, cathedrals, heritage sites and educational institutions. With offices in London and New York, we work with many of the most prestigious organisations in the world.

Established over 40 years ago, Scala’s reputation continues to be one of the highest quality, both for the beautiful books we produce and the expert service we provide. We offer all aspects of the publishing process and work closely with each client, tailoring to their individual needs. We create books to the highest standards of design and production, for sale on-site and for promotion in the worldwide book trade as part of Scala’s far-reaching list.

We are extremely proud to work alongside the Science Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Frick Collection, the Royal Collection and Westminster Abbey. We also publish a fantastic selection of exhibition catalogues and museum collection books; a flourishing list of titles on British cathedrals; books on the history and architecture of houses and castles in Europe; and our ever-popular and expanding series Director’s Choice, now with over 50 titles and counting!

From souvenir guides to award-winning catalogues raisonnés, we take pride in every book we publish. We are always looking to expand our family, to discover new institutions and help share their treasures with the world.

Reviews

[Osku · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sex, prostitution and porn in New York in the last 200 years or so. About one third of the book is history and the rest interviews with people who were there in the '60s, '70s, '80s... Interviews are often with several people in the same room so they are more like moderated group chats. People like Annie Sprinkle, Xaviera Hollander, Gene Simmons and Vanessa Del Rio share their insights and stories related to the subject matter. The book also has plenty of pictures (illustration and photos) which is good as otherwise it might have gotten slightly academic at times. Now it was a pleasant and an easy read.

[Evan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Despite a strong start, this book is a failure at what it sets out to do--which is to relate New York City's role as America's sexual trendsetter. After a historically interesting narrative about the sexual trends in New York mostly in the 19th century into the early 20th century, the book opts for a disappointing, scattershot and often useless "roundtable" interview-style format featuring variously qualified "sexperts" that alternates the occasionally interesting fact and anecdote (particularly by historian Timothy Gilfoyle) with the completely useless, unfocused and irrelevant (Gene Simmons of Kiss, and many others). The roundtable on gay sexuality becomes so bogged down in apologetic semantics, self congratulations and PC babbling that one wants to slap the participants and tell them to get on with it. The final section, a discussion mostly among porn movie actresses is so generalized it belongs in a different book. The central thesis, or assertion, of New York's primacy in the American sexual zeitgeist is a pretty brazen one that requires better documentation, presentation and argument than is mustered here. Very little insight or information is provided, for instance, about the grindhouse and porn scene of 42nd street, even though it is frequently alluded to. It might have been better if some of the talking heads in this book included avid customers and sex workers.
While it's not exactly a revelation that there was sexuality in New York or everywhere else for that matter 150, 100, or 70 years ago, it's still delightful that the book does allow peeks into privileged and once hush-hushed realities--such as the charming photo of two gay World War II sailors enjoying the rubbing together of each other's naked cocks--if only to counteract the myth still clung to by the mainstream survivors of that generation that life in America was like Going My Way or a Technicolor MGM musical. As it is, I think the New York Museum of Sex wanted to have a nice coffee table book as a kind of "reader's companion" and to make a little extra scratch. The fascinating period art/illustrations/photos and the attendant captions are no doubt interesting, and this book is perhaps worth having as a kind of skeletal treatment or a stepping-off point, but I have a feeling, based on his excellent factual insights and observations in this book that interviewee Gilfoyle (the only real scholar in the book), in his own City of Eros is probably the best place to turn. I will say, the most useful things I got from the book were ample suggestions for further reading -- works cited in the text proper and in the bibliography.

[Elizabeth]

Very interesting and thoughtful interviews and essay on sex in New York.