"Memorials. A new way to be unhappy in a group. I visit a friend who can no longer speak. A few days later he's dead. If you ask after people you haven't seen for a while, be prepared"
Originally published January 2, 1990
“It would be no exaggeration to call the ’80s the decade of Crime as Entertainment. An epoch where fascination with ‘reality’ permeated every nook and crevice of television.”
Originally published January 2, 1990
Here are letters between two seven-year-old girls about the ’80s. Their names are Zoozoo and Linda and they have parents.
Originally published January 2, 1990
“Everyone hanging out on St. Marks used to look like a Dr. Seuss character. Now St. Marks looks like a movie version of St. Marks. The East Village is turning into a giant mall.”
Originally published January 2, 1990
“In the ’80s, it was ‘Morning in America’ and we woke up to find that our nightmares were real: it became the Decade of the Quick and the Dead.”
Originally published January 2, 1990
“Manners are something that will immediately determine what a good politician is… That will go a long way to changing the world.”
Originally published January 2, 1990
“In the ’80s the only list that computes is pure megaplatinum — Prince and Bruce and U2 and Michael J. and Madonna, with maybe a few million-selling status symbols like Sting, Talking Heads, R.E.M., or Public Enemy tacked on for appearance’s sake.”
Originally published January 2, 1990
"It was the best of times, it was the best of times. Deregulation. Insider trading. Leveraged buyouts. Junk bonds. Black Monday. The country was broke, blissfully broke, chapter 11 broke, but it was all part of the plan. Reaganomix!"
Originally published January 2, 1990
Sixteen Writers and Artists in Search of a Decade
Originally published January 2, 1990