Luc Sante
Related: writer - popular culture
Exhibit A: Guy Bourdin (2001) - Luc Sante , Michel Guerrin, Samuel Bourdin, Fernando Delgado [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
In his introduction to ''Exhibit A,'' Luc Sante writes, ''For Bourdin, beauty never appeared without its accomplices death, filth and laughter.'' This unholy alliance was something so deeply felt by Bourdin that it makes it very unlikely his work will ever be duplicated, even by his spiritual children, the Davids of darkness, LaChapelle and Lynch. ''One of the last conversations we had was a massive row,'' Kosak says. ''Guy was saying, 'I love the Devil.' I'm very religious, and I said, 'Don't even say that,' and he started dancing around and screeching, 'Long live the Devil!' '' Kosak falls silent for a moment. ''I believe if you call him too much, he'll come and sit on your shoulder.'' Now, there's an image worthy of a Guy Bourdin photograph.
Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York (1991) - Luc Sante [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
There are very few classics in the field of pop culture--the academic stuff tends to be too dry and the fun stuff is too quickly dated. This book by Luc Sante is the exception--in fluid prose liberally sprinkled with astute metaphors, Sante tells the story of New York's Lower East Side, circa 1840-1920. The personal histories of criminals, prostitutes, losers, and swindlers bring to life the social and statistical history that the author has meticulously researched. Not limiting himself to the usual sources, Sante finds his history in old copies of Police Gazette as well as actual police, fire, and social service records. Above all, what really makes this book work is the writing, which brings to life a culture of the streets that continues to form a silent influence on our contemporary popular culture. --Amazon.com
Biography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luc_Sante [Jan 2007]Profile
Luc Sante is general editor of the Library of Larceny (Broadway Books). His books include Low Life, Evidence, and The Factory of Facts. He teaches writing and the history of photography at Bard College. (May 2004)
Luc Sante was born in Verviers, Belgium in 1954, and emigrated to the United States with his parents in 1963. He attended Columbia University and since 1984 has been a full-time writer. Luc Sante is a book critic for New York magazine, a frequent contributor to the New York Review of Books, and a senior contributor to the internet magazine Slate. He has written about books, films, art, photography, and miscellaneous cultural phenomenona for many other periodicals. He received a Whiting Writer's Award in 1989, a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1992-93, and, in 1997, a Literature Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He lives in New York City with his wife, the writer Melissa Holbrook Pierson. He is writing a book about the picture postcard and prewar America.
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