I found this gem at a rummage sale in New Jersey two decades ago. Written in 1966 by John Gruen, a former art and music critic for the New York Herald Tribune, it’s a fascinating snapshot of the creative scene and the energy it fed on in the newly coined East Village. From the intro:
“Walking on St. Marks Place on a weekend night, you become aware of a rhythm. It has an imperceptible underground beat and you feel it increasing as the night wears on. The rhythm of the Combine Generation is taking over. It can take you to a bottle-party in a $15 a month loft (records by Bob Dylan only), to an underground poetry reading, to a wild ‘happening,’ to a way-out theatrical production. It can lead you to encounters with dope addicts, free-love cultists, Swedenborgians, or white chicks looking for noble savages.”
Yep, it’s all for real—not a trace of sarcasm or a thinly veiled putdown from cover to cover. It’s refreshing.
One of the best things about the book is the map marking circa-1966 venues that are for the most part long gone. Stanley’s Bar on Avenue B and East 12th? Nope. Ratner’s on Second Avenue and East Sixth? Finito. (Click to enlarge):
Tags: East Village, John Gruen, Ratner's, St. Marks Place
April 30, 2008 at 1:01 pm |
Hello!
I was really pleased to read the brief exerpt from my very first book! Thank you for unearthing it!
Hope you have a chance to see my newest tome . . .called “Callas Kissed Me . . . Lenny Too!” A Critic’s Memoir—-just published and in all the stores.
Best Regards,
John
July 11, 2008 at 3:31 am |
[...] Hipster dude eye candy from the 60s A couple of bohemian-on-the-street photos of hip-looking guys ambling around the Village in the 1960s. The first guy is strolling down St. Mark’s Place around 1966. The photo is from John Gruen’s 1966 guidebook The New Bohemia. [...]