Close to the Knives: A Memoir of Disintegration | 
“Words can strip the power from a memory or an event. Words can cut the ropes of an experience. Breaking silence about an experience can break the chains of the code of silence. Describing the once indescribable can dismantle the power of taboo.“
Remembering David Wojnarowicz on his birthday.
pickI finished Close to the Knives a couple of nights ago. It was a pretty intense read, sometimes graphic but always honest. It's definitely not your typical memoir, and you could tell he was a writer because some of it was beautifully written despite the subject matter. I hated the ending because he described bullfighting he was watching in Mexico and I'm absolutely sick about it. But overall I'm really glad I read it. I felt understood.
This book went from personal to political, but the things he wrote about are still relevant today, and that's a shame.
This memoir is intense.
My next read. I learned about David Wojnarowicz in Olivia Laing's The Lonely City a couple of years ago, and his story really stuck with me. He came back to my mind again recently so I decided to pick up his memoir.
Bought a copy of this in the gallery shop: loads of fiction about 1980s New York (seriously tempting)
#NewYork #Liverpool #Tate
Inspired by Ms. Laing's beautiful "The Art of Being Lonely", I decided to start reading this one. I must admit that the only thing I knew about Wojnarowicz beforehand was his famous slogan. Now I'm hoping I can get more of an insight. ?
