Richard Prince's "American Prayer"

A collector to me is always someone who exposes him or herself via their obsession or collection.  Richard Prince is an artist who totally focuses on the importance of the image and how that image is used in various contexts.  So its fascinating how he takes on something so personal - in other words his book collection.  And it is a book collection to end all book collections.  He has many signed rare editions, but also loves the nature of the pulp paperback - but even that has a rare quality to it.

The books he mostly collects are editions that were produced in 1949 to the year 1984. "1984" being one of his favorite novels, which was written in 1949, and by chance also the year of his birth.  So this is a collection that defines Prince as an individual and an artist.  This beautiful book has tons of book covers - but more importantly documents various titles.  For instance he has every version of "On The Road" possible, but beyond that he has editions that are signed by Kerouac to various greats - William Burroughs, Ginsberg, Vidal, etc.  And the fact that he somehow got these signed books is surely a man focused on the communication between the writer and his readers/friends.   He also collects Jimi Hendrix letters - which as far as I know have never been published before - but that's fascinating.

But the meat and potato of his collection is 20th Century classics - and how those classics talk to him as an artist is really something.  This has to be one of the great books on an artist and his muse - books.  And  the fact that we get some great excerpts is a plus as well.  A book that can be in the art  as well as in the literary criticism section.  Love it.

Oriana Small's "Girlvert: A Porno Memoir"

Oriana Small is a big talent as a writer. And one of great charm as well. And it is unusual (for me) to find great charm in the world of Porn. Nevertheless "Girlvert" is a journey into the heart of the valley (San Fernando Valley to be exact), the headquarters that is everything Porn.
I used to work on Sherman Way in Reseda in the 80's and I would see many of the sex club workers, porn actors and actresses as well as all the other by-products of that field and era. "Boogie Nights" captures that time, place and period quite well, and "Girlvert" also gives me a birds-eye view of porn filming and living. Although the world in the book takes place in the 21st Century, it still seems very 80's like. Some things never change.
Oriana Small is a porn actress who goes by the name of Ashley Blue, and appeared in hundreds of films. One becomes numb reading one sex act after another, but the tedious aspect of such a life is so well developed by Small's talent as a memoir writer. She is only 29 (at the time of writing this book) and yet wise way beyond her years. In her glory period as a porn actress, she was very much focused on the moment, and the book comments on the need to stay stoned or in some sort of high. What struck me interesting is that it can be any type of job where you have to perform - and the strain of keeping that lifestyle or drug use up just to make it to the next day or even moment is a fascinating process. Her lifestyle becomes bizarre in the sense that she couldn't fully see the big picture, but the details were being focused - but only for that moment or two. Therefore, due to the drinking/drug input and just having a great deal of cash around - the focus is only for the next 12 hours or so.
Small specialize in doing all the hard-core porn performances and her approach to doing these scenes are interesting in that she is always rebelling against something out of her past. Her family life was messed up and that is totally not out of the norm, but she had to do something to make a mark on this world. And at that time it was her talent to do porn. And porn is an interesting medium because there is something else being played out besides the erotica or the erotic impulse. The power shift between the partners being filmed or directed. A lot of it is just to produce a product to sell, but there is also an art to it as well. But one can watch these films as a weird fantasy land, where one acts out their sexual/violent impulses – or is it a world that is designed by the producers/actors/director – or how much imput does it come from its viewers/audience? There is a mechanical aspect of porn that leaves me numb, but then again, may be the numb part is an aesthetic of some sort.
For her "Girvert" film series, she sees herself as more as a performance artist. Small has no regrets for the life she had lived (and still does in a sense by working with her talented porn director/photographer & husband Dave Naz) because she sees it as an unique life experience. This is not a book of woe, but more of a personal journey into an unique and very specialized world. Porn, in general is boring, but when you have a character you care about or find interesting, or at times the way it's shot, it is something else above the average viewing of bodies mixing together.
Also the design work on this book is top-notch. Its a beauty of a production, and Oriana Small fits in pefectly with the elegence of the design. As a writer, I think we will read her works for many years to come.

"Television: Marquee Moon" by Bryan Waterman

I have strong memories being a total Television obsessive before hearing one note of their music. Their visuals got me. A band looking this cool, I knew had to sound great. When I first bought the single "Johnny's Little jewel" it was like a dream coming to life. I knew this song was an odd choice for a single, and the author Bryan Waterman brought this up - but then again, one can tell by the visuals that Television were never going to play by the rules. If Tom Verlaine and company were animals, they would be under-fed house cats. Totally proud, and happy in their own world. But once they find food, they're going to tear into it like wild animals. 
And their music conveys that tension to me. When I heard the first note of "See No Evil," the opening song to their album "Marquee Moon" it was like being stabbed by electric guitars in a dark alley. Very violent, and very poetic. To this day, and many years after, it still gives me goose bumps. And "Marquee Moon" is perhaps one of the great rock albums ever. I want to say the greatest of the greats, but ..... is that too dramatic of a statement? 
As a music movement (which it wasn't really) the CBGB years were magnificent. I don't know if it was in the NYC water system, but it seems like the early to mid- 1970's brought out the genius of various folks there. The Ramones of course, but also Richard Hell, who is equally brilliant as Verlaine. The fact that both of them were in the same band drives me insane. Its too good! Besides Hell needed to have his own outlet -and he too made an incredible classic album "Blank Generation." 
And these two guys - Verlaine and Hell - were (or are) incredible poets. But focusing on "Marquee Moon," it is such a beautiful record with stunning songs. The ultimate guitar rave up album, but with the touch of "French Symbolic Poetry" thrown into the mix. But what Verlaine adds (besides his name) is a contemporary POV that is haunting and deeply romantic. But passionate in a very very cool way. 
Waterman's book is a good one. He touches on all the greatness in the band, and his focus on the lyrics is much needed. You may have read all the gossip in "Please Kill Me," but this is a much more reflective look into the mystique and wonder of Richard Lloyd, Fred Smith, Richard Hell, Billy Ficca, Patti Smith, and Tom Verlaine.

Tosh Talks June.03.2011 "" THE LOST ALBUM - A Visual History Of 1950's Britain" By Basil Hyman.

A great stunning book now at Book Soup.

Bill Morgan's "The Beat Generation in New York"

Well, i am in New York City at the moment(s), and its too hot outside to actually do a walking tour- but i think this is the book to bring with you when you are in NYC. Bill Morgan is the official historian of everything that's BEAT. And here he takes you to neighborhood-to-neighborhood to all the Beat haunts and lofts/apartments. As well as the bars, the jazz nightclubs, and various parks where one score Heroin or grass. In other words this is pretty essential travel guide to one of the great cities on this planet. 
The shocking thing is also how much has changed since this book was written (in the 1990's). Buildings don't exist, so what you get is sort of a ghost tour - and Manhattan in many ways is a ghost - but with only respect to memory and history. Its a beautiful form of memory - not my own, but from history. And the Beats, without a doubt, made NYC a strong presence. Even if you don't plan to go to New York City, this book is pretty much an essential document of Beat life. In other words, I love it!

Tosh Talks May.27.2011 Frank O'Hara

"Tosh Talks" about Frank O'Hara, the great New York City Poet

Tosh Talks May.20.2011 Wakefield Press

"Tosh Talks" about Wakefield Press

Raymond Roussel's "Locus Solus"

I read this book some years ago, and to this day I felt I dreamt it. Not meaning it's a Surrealist work - and some argue it is - at least by its nature. But re-reading "Locus Solus" reminds me of the Museum of Jurrastic Technology here in Los Angeles. One goes into the museum not sure how it will turn out in the end, but for sure you are going for a wild intellectual and sensual journey. 
There is no real plot for say, but more of a group of settings where things happen Some are narratives and some are almost visual set pieces. Which explains why Roussel was a major influence on the visual arts of the early 20th Century as well as to poets. His mixture of images within bizarre settings never gets stale. The wealthy scientist Cantarel takes a group on a tour of his estate, and what he has in his collection.... Oh my! 
In many ways the book is about obsessions. About capturing a moment and keeping it is some form or another. And that the author is Raymond Roussel, perhaps one of the great obsessive writers ever. A wealthy man who paid for the publication for this book (as well as his other titles). An author who eventually put together a huge stage show in Paris - and a man who traveled around the world and never left the ocean liner. So the world of his choice are all in his head. And this is what makes his work so great. 
There is logic, but its in a science fiction turn of the century way of looking at the world. And that is another odd aspect to his work is that he is clearly a man from the 19th Century dealing with the 20th Century world. Without a doubt a work of genius, and a book I will re-read again and again.

"The Lost Album: A Visual History of 1950's Britain" by Basil Hyman

The coffee book design is made for books like "The Lost Album." Photographer Basil Hyman's beautiful reproduction of the black and white years of Post-War England. Half of it is his photographs of sites, people (no one famous) burned out music halls, pubs, and etc. But within these pages you get actual ration cards for food and gas, a program for a dance hall performance, ticket stubs from the tube, as well as from various shows, newspaper clippings - its all incredible. 
The book is beautifully designed and the paper has a textural touch that brings back memories - but the thing is this is not my memory, but Hyman's thoughts and visuals of an era that is extremely importrant. The 50's U.K. built the pop stars that will soon change pop culture in the 60's - and seeing the rationing cards, the harsh black and white imagery, which was really the world at the time - is both extremely moving and beautiful. Essential book to the ultimate max.

Tosh Talks May.13.2011

My little talk on Raymond Roussel