Cleaning Up New York
The 1970s Cult Classic
$27.22
- Paperback
200 pages
- Release Date
15 April 2016
Summary
Cleaning Up New York has been a word-of-mouth cult classic since it was first published in 1976 in an edition of 750.The East Village, NYC, 1976. A twenty-six-year-old starving poet needs $60. What else to do but register with a temp agency as a house cleaner? The excitement never wanes as he is catapulted into the everyday yet unimaginable worlds behind closed (apartment) doors.Bob knows one thing: Dirt will always win. Clients are a bit more unpredictable, he discovers, as he comes to terms with eccentric domestic habits and intimate dramas; weird vibes and strange discoveries; appreciation, dependency, dismissal…and seduction.Even if he’s asked to clean up a loft the size of the Strand-and he is, and it’s above the legendary bookstore-he coffees up with a doughnut, fortifies himself with some (pocketed) weed, and sets out anew, with disarming insight, originality, and humor.With alternate chapters devoted to practical cleaning tips, Cleaning Up New York is a quirky reinvention in the tradition of George Orwell’s Down and Out in Paris and London, Studs Terkel’s chronicles of the working class, and Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management-its narrator a spiritual descendant of Candide, Ida Tarbell, and Holden Caulfield.Publication History: 1st US pub in 1976; OP for decades
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781936941131 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 1936941139 |
| Author: | Bob Rosenthal |
| Publisher: | Little Bookroom,U.S. |
| Imprint: | Little Bookroom,U.S. |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 200 |
| Edition: | Main |
| Release Date: | 15 April 2016 |
| Weight: | 97g |
| Dimensions: | 173mm x 130mm x 7mm |
You Can Find This Book In
What They're Saying
Critics Review
”[ Cleaning Up New York ] is one of the great neglected books of the 1970s, a classic short essay…it’s brilliant and playful…and eminently practical, too.“– The Endless Bookshelf blog
“A deeply humane, often hilarious and ultimately moving little treatise on intimacy.” —Sadie Stein, The New York Times Book Review
“I first read Cleaning Up New York when it was published in the 1970s and I’ve been recommending it to people ever since. It’s one of those great, rare works the style of which—immaculate, with unexpected descriptor glints, and funny, low-key frankness—perfectly embodies its subject, namely the revelation of soft shine in humble corners of New York. it’s a miracle and you don’t have to be clean to appreciate it.” —Richard Hell
“Bob Rosenthal’s Cleaning Up New York is a perfect little gem of a book. There is not one wasted or misplaced word in this chronicle, which manages to contain an awful lot of the world in its few pages. It’s not only about the city and its range of denizens, but also about the art of living, the satisfaction of humble work, the way poetry arises from daily experience. and if that weren’t enough, it also includes really useful advice about cleaning!” —Lucy Sante
“[Cleaning Up New York] is one of the great neglected books of the 1970s, a classic short essay…it’s brilliant and playful…and eminently practical, too.”—The Endless Bookshelf blog
Praise for Straight Around Allen
“Bob Rosenthal’s unique, remarkable, and candid recollections of two decades working as secretary for Allen…are, quite frankly, essential reading.”—The Allen Ginsberg Project blog
About The Author
Bob Rosenthal
Bob Rosenthal was Allen Ginsberg’s secretary for twenty years until Ginsberg’s death, and currently is a chief adviser to the Ginsberg estate. A poet and writer, he is currently working on a chronicle of the business of Ginsberg. He taught English language and literature at a high school in New York City for many years.
Returns
This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.