When Sex Was Dirty

This is an interesting and funny little book portraying some of the seedier aspects of NYC history in the 80's. Interesting characters and portrait of the time and place. Some stories almost unbelievable. Certainly nowhere close to being politically correct but at least honest in its portrayal. Fun and easy read but drags a little in a couple chapters.

As with the previous "Tales of Times Square," this book visits the glory that was Forty-Deuce back in the heyday of its vileness: the late 70s and early 80s. AIDS hadn't yet reared its head, Plato's Retreat and other sex clubs and bath-houses were still going strong, X-rated shops and theatres were all over the place, and prostitutes owned the streets. Ah, the good old days. Friedman approaches everything with an honest and open-eyed wonder-- he was at the center of things as a very youthful contributer to Al Goldstein's SCREW, and he meets some memorably loathesome people, as well as some endearing ones. His writing is mostly crisp and entertaining, but be warned: if you find sex icky, you might want to stick to the romance section of the bookstore. Sex here is a commodity, and porno is a business. Along the way we learn how Josh lost his virginity and his favorite starlets to whack off to-- it's that kind of a book. Nice to know that the son of one of my favorite authors, Bruce Jay Friedman, is carrying on the tradition of mordant humor and jaundiced commentary on the less respectable side of things...