Close to the Knives

By David Wojnarowicz,

Book cover of Close to the Knives: A Memoir of Disintegration

Book description

I am glad I am alive to witness these things; giving words to this life of sensations is a relief. Smell the flowers while you can.

Close to the Knives is the artist, writer and activist David Wojnarowicz's extraordinary memoir. Filthy, beautiful, and sharp to the point of piercing, it…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Close to the Knives as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This memoir by the artist David Wojnarowicz deeply impacted me when I was a young queer man just setting off to make his way in the world in the early ‘90s. It’s a look at America during the AIDS crisis, and also delves into the author’s rage and lust and creativity and hope for a better world. The prose is electric, confrontational, and not at all concerned with decorum or coddling delicate sensibilities. It’s a raw and honest deep dive into the heart and soul of an artist living life on the edge of a society actively antagonistic to his…

From Khan's list on how art is more than art.

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