Tales of Times Square - Hardcover

Friedman, Josh A.

3.87

196 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0385294603 ISBN 13: 9780385294607

Publisher: Delacorte Press, 1986

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A full century of Times Square's history is interwoven with profiles of and interviews with burlesque show owners, swing club operators, and porn store owners

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About the Author:

For those prone to disbelief, Josh Alan Friedman's landmark book, TALES OF TIMES SQUARE, serves as last will and testament of what once was. Still in print since its 1986 hardcover release by Delacorte Press, TALES became its own podcast in 2017. The demimonde of old Broadway say a mouthful from the burlesque theaters, boxing rings and gutters of a fading 42ndStreet. All 20 episodes--along with Josh's latest podcast season--appear at BlackCracker.fm and on iTunes. An animated TV series is in the works.

Previous to that, the civil rights movement was turned upside down in Josh's "autobiographical novel," BLACK CRACKER. A new hardcover was published in 2017, along with Josh's collection of music journalism, TELL THE TRUTH UNTIL THEY BLEED (both from Wyatt Doyle Books). Before that: WHEN SEX WAS DIRTY (Feral House); I, GOLDSTEIN: MY SCREWED LIFE (with Al Goldstein, Thunder's Mouth Press); and NOW DIG THIS: THE UNSPEAKABLE WRITINGS OF TERRY SOUTHERN (co-editor, Grove Press).

Before the age of graphic novels, Josh set off satirical fires and lawsuits as writer-half of the Friedman Bros cartooning duo. Two anthologies remain in print from Fantagraphics, featuring the art of Josh's brother, Drew: WARTS AND ALL and ANY SIMILARITY TO PERSONS LIVING OR DEAD IS PURELY COINCIDENTAL. Seeing is believing.

On the music front, as "Josh Alan," he barnstormed the state of Texas for 20 years, rocking whole arenas with his Guild D-40. Copping three Dallas Observer Music Awards for Best
Acoustic Act, he released five albums: FAMOUS & POOR, THE WORST!, BLACKS 'N' JEWS, JOSH ALAN BAND, and the current tour-de force, SIXTY, GODDAMMIT.

Josh is the son of Bruce Jay Friedman, also considered the father of Black Humor. He shares new work and selections from his archives on his podcast site at BlackCracker.fm

From Publishers Weekly:

Concentrating on the period from 1978 to 1984, which he labels the "golden age of pornography" in mid-Manhattan, Friedman has drawn a vivid picture of the Times Square area and its denizens. He writes about the porn palaces with live sex shows, and the men and women who perform in them, prostitutes and their pimps, the runaways who will likely be the next decade's prostitutes, the clergymen who fight the smut merchants and the cops who feel impotent in the face of the judiciary. We are shown a depressing picture of sexually obsessed individuals seeking instant gratification again and again. But there are also delightful interviews with old-timers in the area, now mostly in their 70s or late 60s, who offer reminiscences of Times Square in its heyday. Friedman (Any Similarity to Persons Living or Dead Is Purely Coincidental also discusses the proposed reclamation of Times Square, about which he demonstrates mixed attitudes.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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