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37. Times Square Red, Times Square Blue.
Despite moments of infatuation on both sides, these were not love
relationships. The few hustlers excepted, they were not business
relationships. They were encounters whose most important aspect was that
mutual pleasure was exchanged—an aspect that, yes, colored all other
aspects, but that did not involve any sort of life commitment. Most were
affable but brief because, beyond pleasure, these were people you had little
in common with. Yet what greater field and force than pleasure can human
beings share?
Times Square Red, Times Square Blue is a book that’s half memoir, half
theoretical argument. It’s about Samuel R. Delany’s experiences in the adult
theatres of New York City (which he often frequented, and which, as the book
was written, were being torn down and replaced with the “family-friendly”
version of Times Square we know today) and about the nature of contact in a
vibrant city. It begins our cluster of books on
sex with astonishing frankness,
nuanced thought, and vast empathy—and it’s gorgeously written as well.
Show Notes.
Samuel R. Delany: Times Square Red, Times Square
Blue.
[Bookshop.]
Other books by Delany that we mention: Dhalgren;
In Search of Silence: The Journals of Samuel R. Delany, Volume I,
1957-1969; Return to
Nevèrÿon; The Motion of Light in
Water; Heavenly
Breakfast; Through the Valley of the Nest of
Spiders.
Jane Jacobs: The Death and Life of Great American
Cities.
Our episodes on Middlemarch, A
Moveable Feast, and Memory
Serves.
Anne Carson: Nox.
Julia Kristeva: Stabat Mater.
[JSTOR, paywalled, but you can see the layout of the first page, at least.]
Walter Benjamin: The Arcades Project.
Delany’s website has long included a robust
page of errata he’s found in his books, which often get updated in reprints
(though the page seems to be broken right now).
The Poetry Project has some videos of Delany talking
about and reading
from the 20th anniversary
edition of the book.
Next: The Mahabharata.
[Bookshop.]
If you’re enjoying The Spouter-Inn, consider supporting us on
Patreon. Thank you!
View all episodes
By Suzanne Conklin Akbari and Chris Piuma
4.8
3030 ratings
Despite moments of infatuation on both sides, these were not love
relationships. The few hustlers excepted, they were not business
relationships. They were encounters whose most important aspect was that
mutual pleasure was exchanged—an aspect that, yes, colored all other
aspects, but that did not involve any sort of life commitment. Most were
affable but brief because, beyond pleasure, these were people you had little
in common with. Yet what greater field and force than pleasure can human
beings share?
Times Square Red, Times Square Blue is a book that’s half memoir, half
theoretical argument. It’s about Samuel R. Delany’s experiences in the adult
theatres of New York City (which he often frequented, and which, as the book
was written, were being torn down and replaced with the “family-friendly”
version of Times Square we know today) and about the nature of contact in a
vibrant city. It begins our cluster of books on
sex with astonishing frankness,
nuanced thought, and vast empathy—and it’s gorgeously written as well.
Show Notes.
Samuel R. Delany: Times Square Red, Times Square
Blue.
[Bookshop.]
Other books by Delany that we mention: Dhalgren;
In Search of Silence: The Journals of Samuel R. Delany, Volume I,
1957-1969; Return to
Nevèrÿon; The Motion of Light in
Water; Heavenly
Breakfast; Through the Valley of the Nest of
Spiders.
Jane Jacobs: The Death and Life of Great American
Cities.
Our episodes on Middlemarch, A
Moveable Feast, and Memory
Serves.
Anne Carson: Nox.
Julia Kristeva: Stabat Mater.
[JSTOR, paywalled, but you can see the layout of the first page, at least.]
Walter Benjamin: The Arcades Project.
Delany’s website has long included a robust
page of errata he’s found in his books, which often get updated in reprints
(though the page seems to be broken right now).
The Poetry Project has some videos of Delany talking
about and reading
from the 20th anniversary
edition of the book.
Next: The Mahabharata.
[Bookshop.]
If you’re enjoying The Spouter-Inn, consider supporting us on
Patreon. Thank you!
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