Here are 100 books that The Faith of Graffiti fans have personally recommended if you like
The Faith of Graffiti.
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Graffiti makes me see the city differently. In fact, graffiti makes me see art and society differently, too. Yet, while an incredibly potent visual form, graffiti is still—over fifty years since its first appearance—commonly misunderstood and maligned. Books are for me a key space through which these often cliched critiques can be countered—let alone a key medium for such an ephemeral art. Each of the books on my list reappraises graffiti as a visual and cultural medium alike. They show the complexity of the image as much as the subculture and together position these iconoclastic images as one of the key art movements of the 20th century.
Gordon Matta-Clark is one of my favorite ever artists. An innovator who crossed the fields of architecture and art, Matta-Clark found new modes of expression by simultaneously deconstructing his urban surroundings and destabilizing the canonical regulations of art. What’s more, and unlike many of his contemporaries, Matta-Clark had a keen eye for graffiti, using it within his own practice (such as in the work “Graffiti Truck”) as well as archiving the images that surrounded him in 1970s New York.
Whilst some of these images have previously been seen in exhibitions of Matta-Clark's work (his hand-colored, stunning “Photoglyphs” most famously), the majority of the 2000 photos Matta-Clark took during the early ‘70s have never been seen until the publication of this stunning book. At over 400 pages and with over 400 beautiful color images, as well as containing interviews and essays by some key practitioners and writers of the era, this…
It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.
The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…
Graffiti makes me see the city differently. In fact, graffiti makes me see art and society differently, too. Yet, while an incredibly potent visual form, graffiti is still—over fifty years since its first appearance—commonly misunderstood and maligned. Books are for me a key space through which these often cliched critiques can be countered—let alone a key medium for such an ephemeral art. Each of the books on my list reappraises graffiti as a visual and cultural medium alike. They show the complexity of the image as much as the subculture and together position these iconoclastic images as one of the key art movements of the 20th century.
The summer I finished my PhD, I had the feeling that I had made a huge mistake—the mistake being I hadn’t written my whole doctorate on the life and work of Rammellzee, the pioneering artist and mythical graffiti writer who had died aged just 49 the year before. A game-changing innovator who combined literature, music, performance, sculpture, and fashion to produce an avant-garde art practice that is still influential today, Rammellzee showed what was possible when graffiti was truly unshackled and set free.
Whilst it was too late for me to go back in time and restart my PhD, thankfully, Maxwell Wolf and Jeff Mao have produced the most definitive monograph on Rammellzee to date. Packed full of incredible images and the most mind-bending ephemera, it’s a must for anyone interested in graffiti, Afrofuturism, or performance art, let alone anyone who wants to learn about one of the most electrifying,…
Rammellzee was an enigmatic yet key figure in the nexus of creative forces that defined New York City s heady downtown scene in the late 1970s and 1980s. In the first major monograph on the multi-hyphenate artist, his inspired vision and wildly diverse artistic output are considered in depth. The oversize volume presents a treasure trove of material, providing extraordinary insight into his creative genius: a comprehensive selection of artworks (his iconic resin frescoes, paintings, sculpture, and performance paraphernalia), never-before-seen documentation of his graffiti work and performances, archival material, and ephemera. Gathered here for the first time, these materials tell…
Graffiti makes me see the city differently. In fact, graffiti makes me see art and society differently, too. Yet, while an incredibly potent visual form, graffiti is still—over fifty years since its first appearance—commonly misunderstood and maligned. Books are for me a key space through which these often cliched critiques can be countered—let alone a key medium for such an ephemeral art. Each of the books on my list reappraises graffiti as a visual and cultural medium alike. They show the complexity of the image as much as the subculture and together position these iconoclastic images as one of the key art movements of the 20th century.
I learned so much from reading anthropologist Susan Phillips’ fantastic account of Los Angeles over the last 100 years. Exploring the history of the city from the ground up, she combines a microscopic analysis of the city’s diverse graffiti cultures–from the graffiti of hobos to that of surfers, prisoners, and punks–with a macroscopic account of the changing nature of this most famous megalopolis.
I loved the beautiful, intimate images Philips included, as well as her refreshing, first-person appearance throughout the book. More than anything, though, I really enjoyed the way that Phillip's approach extends the understanding of 20th-century graffiti beyond the traditional East Cost (and hip-hop-centric) focus, seeing an entire world within the traces the most marginalized leave behind and showing how graffiti reveals as much about the changing nature of a city as of society itself.
A sweeping history of Los Angeles told through the lens of the many marginalized groups-from hobos to taggers-that have used the city's walls as a channel for communication
Graffiti written in storm drain tunnels, on neighborhood walls, and under bridges tells an underground and, until now, untold history of Los Angeles. Drawing on extensive research within the city's urban landscape, Susan A. Phillips traces the hidden language of marginalized groups over the past century-from the early twentieth-century markings of hobos, soldiers, and Japanese internees to the later inscriptions of surfers, cholos, and punks. Whether describing daredevil kids, bored workers, or…
A Duke with rigid opinions, a Lady whose beliefs conflict with his, a long disputed parcel of land, a conniving neighbour, a desperate collaboration, a failure of trust, a love found despite it all.
Alexander Cavendish, Duke of Ravensworth, returned from war to find that his father and brother had…
Graffiti makes me see the city differently. In fact, graffiti makes me see art and society differently, too. Yet, while an incredibly potent visual form, graffiti is still—over fifty years since its first appearance—commonly misunderstood and maligned. Books are for me a key space through which these often cliched critiques can be countered—let alone a key medium for such an ephemeral art. Each of the books on my list reappraises graffiti as a visual and cultural medium alike. They show the complexity of the image as much as the subculture and together position these iconoclastic images as one of the key art movements of the 20th century.
This book blew my mind when I first read it. In fact, it continues to do so today, over 20 years since it was first written. Perverse, contradictory, offensive, effervescent, and totally un-put-downable, Brown (aka Nov, aka Nov York, aka Dumaar Freemaninov) takes us on an extraordinary journey into the life of a 1990s New York graffiti writer, into the underbelly and dirt of the city and into its drugged out, demented dramas.
How autobiographical is it? How much is truth? How much fiction? Whichever the answer, Brown’s anarchic, unique book took me on a trip that I will never forget, and in doing so, gives an insight into a world far beyond the graffiti image itself. A must-read (and to be read aloud whilst travelling on the subway as per the author’s instructions)!
Most of my public success has been as a novelist. My MFA, from the Iowa Writers Workshop, is in poetry. When I grow up, I want to be a short story writer. The dirty truth is, though, I’ve been making trouble with stories since I was a kid. During my first attempt in 10th grade, I wrote a story that got me suspended for two weeks. No explanation. No guidance. Just a conference between my parents, teachers, and principal (I wasn’t present), and they came out and banished me. I dropped out of school shortly after. I reckon that experience, both shameful and delicious, shaped my life and love of narrative.
The complexities of the human, the whole human. That’s what Paley explores. How we think, how we act and feel, how we play and fight, how we talk. And talk. Paley is a master of nuance, and often reveals her mastery through dialogue. There is always a convincing urgency in the way her characters speak, and a delicious talking-around a thing, an idea. Her worlds richly detailed and urban. I’d like to live in the apartment building of Grace Paley’s mind.
This reissue of Grace Paley's classic collection—a finalist for the National Book Award—demonstrates her rich use of language as well as her extraordinary insight into and compassion for her characters, moving from the hilarious to the tragic and back again.
Whether writing about the love (and conflict) between parents and children or between husband and wife, or about the struggles of aging single mothers or disheartened political organizers to make sense of the world, she brings the same unerring ear for the rhythm of life as it is actually lived.
The Collected Stories is a 1994 National Book Award Finalist…
When I was a young girl, I was lucky to have friends from all over the world, so learning about a new country or a new city always fascinated me, and it still does. I’m always trying to learn new things, meet new people and whenever I can I like to travel the world. As a writer and illustrator, it’s always nice to experience new things, it helps to expand my imagination. I hope this list inspires you not only to read but to learn a few things here and there.
Anyone who is curious about other cities and cultures will love the complete series of the This Is… books by Miroslav Sasek. They are filled with exciting facts and the colorful illustrations are truly delightful. From New York, to London, to Hong Kong, and many more, these books will inspire you to travel the world!
With the same wit and perception that distinguished his stylish books on Paris, London, and Rome, M. Sasek pictures fabulous, big-hearted New York City in This Is New York, first published in 1960 and now updated for the 21st century. The Dutchman who bought the island of Manhattan from the Native Americnas in 1626 for twenty-four dollars' worth of handy housewares little knew that his was the biggest bargain in American history. For everything about New York is big -- the buildings, the traffic jams, the cars, the stories, the Sunday papers. Here is the Staten Island Ferry, the Statute…
The Duke's Christmas Redemption
by
Arietta Richmond,
A Duke who has rejected love, a Lady who dreams of a love match, an arranged marriage, a house full of secrets, a most unneighborly neighbor, a plot to destroy reputations, an unexpected love that redeems it all.
Lady Charlotte Wyndham, given in an arranged marriage to a man she…
Rock music has been in my blood and my soul for as long as I can remember. I’ve recorded two albums, "Twice Upon a Rhyme" (1972) and "Welcome Up: Songs of Space and Time" (2020). My most recent novel is It’s Real Life. I’m also Professor of Communication and Media Studies at Fordham University, and my students will tell you that from time to time, I’ll sing a bar or two from a song in my class. A book about music is always a hard-to-resist temptation.
I’ve lived in New York City all of my life. I sang doo-wop in Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village when I was a teenager, and then folk rock with my group, The New Outlook.
If ever there was a time-travel ticket to a past and a place that I knew so well I could still see the sun glinting through the tree leaves, hear the din of the eateries as I walked by, and, most important, still hear the music by people vastly more famous than me, music that actually defied any given time or place, it would be David Browne's book, Talkin' Greenwich Village.
I’m a native New Yorker whose recent move to the UK gives me both unique insight into a city I lived the hell out of for decades and space and time to look back and wonder what it was all about, like with a lover you still adore but are relieved you’re no longer with. I’ve partied in squats and walked red carpets. I can sniff out a fake-take on this city so many people feel they know long before ever visiting it, and that always offends/bores/turns me off. These books got it right, and I’m thrilled to point more people in their direction.
Growing up in New York City, I’ll never forget my first experience, at around the age of seven, with people literally living underground. Our subway stalled in a tunnel in front of an abandoned station. The lights went off in the car and the platform outside was cast in an eerie orange glow by a single bulb.
Suddenly, a figure emerged from the shadows, charged my subway car, and started banging wildly and laughing maniacally, just on the other side of the glass to me. This continued for what felt like a million years before the train came back to life, and we moved on.
Decades later, I discovered this book about a parallel city below mine where people like that man live an alternative existence in miles and miles of dark warrens underground. I’m obsessed with it.
Thousands of people live in the subway, railroad, and sewage tunnels that form the bowels of New York City and this book is about them, the so-called mole people. They live alone and in communities, in subway tunnels and below subway platforms and this fascinating study presents how and why people move underground, who they are, and what they have to say about their lives and the “topside” world they’ve left behind.
As a brainy, bullied Queer theater kid, I was 14 before I ever saw anyone like myself onstage or onscreen. Then—Wham—in June of 1980 I sawA Chorus Lineon Broadway and Fame at the movies. But there weren’t any books that showed the theater life as it was actually lived. When I published my love letter to my high school theater friends in 2004, no one had written a novel about our kind. Today, as someone who’s managed to make a living as a writer-director of musicals, I strive to share the whole truth with the young artists I mentor.
Joe Keenan’s madcap farces made me want to write my own. They’re the kind of books that make you laugh so hard you just have to read lines from it to the person sitting next to you (preferably someone you know because strangers on mass transit don’t appreciate that kind of thing). As zany as they are, his novels are rooted in the real, doing-whatever-you-can-to-make-it lives of theater people. So they’re not as far-fetched as you might think. Life in New York City really can be that wildly glamorous. And hilarious.
The witty duo from Blue Heaven invade the entourage of a tasteless real estate/media magnate, attempt to turn his talentless wife into a chanteuse, and vie for the affections of a suave magazine editor, in this deftly delicious comedy of bad manners, financial skullduggery, and romantic infighting.
This book follows the journey of a writer in search of wisdom as he narrates encounters with 12 distinguished American men over 80, including Paul Volcker, the former head of the Federal Reserve, and Denton Cooley, the world’s most famous heart surgeon.
In these and other intimate conversations, the book…
I have always liked antiheroes and characters that are in some way doomed. To me, there’s something romantic about them. And over time I have come to replace the fictional protagonists of noir and horror with antiheroes from real life. With miserable authors who wrote about their own lives, where instead of gangsters or monsters, they waged battle against themselves, against their own demons and despair. Books like these have kept me company during some of the darkest periods of my life, and their unflinching honesty has inspired me to become a writer. Perhaps they can do the same for you.
It takes courage to name your book that. Especially in the 90s before self-publishing became a thing. Which did not stop its renegade author from selling xeroxed copies of it in the streets.
Its titular protagonist, who is jobless and homeless after his girlfriend kicks him out, is based on the author himself. He struggles with feelings of inadequacy and a sense of purposelessness. He works odd jobs, writes an occasional poem, meets eccentric strangers, engages in substance abuse, and gets into sticky situations on account of his bad decisions.
While I don’t know about you, I can strongly relate to the character. The book's dark humor is also enough to make it one of my favorites.
Arthur Nersesian's underground literary treasure is an unforgettable slice of gritty New York City life...and the darkly hilarious odyssey of an anonymous slacker. He's a perennial couch-surfer, an aspiring writer searching for himself, and he's just trying to survive. But life has other things in store for the fuck-up. From being dumped by his girlfriend to getting fired for asking for a raise, from falling into a robbery to posing as a gay man to keep his job at a porn theatre, the fuck-up's tragi-comedy is perfectly realised by Arthur Nersesian, who manages to create humour and suspense out of…
