An intimate, urgent and riotous account of masculinity, whiteness, queerness and belief in America
In winter 2018, Gregg Bordowitz performed a three-part lecture series at the New Museum as part of Trigger: Gender as a Tool and a Weapon. Each evening, he explored an avatar of masculinity that was formative to him as he came of age as an outer-borough child of Jewish immigrants, then as an artist-activist in Manhattan at the dawn of the AIDS crisis: the rock star, the rabbi and the comedian. He merged personal and political history, ribald humor and social criticism, performer and persona. Some Styles of Masculinity is a self-portrait and an essay on upheaval and plague, based on transcripts of the eponymous series, which Bordowitz has reimagined for the page. He asserts that gender can’t be separated from ethnicity, sexuality, class or nationality, and he connects these aspects of himself through personal anecdotes as well as reflections on whiteness, diaspora, comedy and Jewish mysticism. Some Styles of Masculinity evokes David Antin’s “talk poems,” Maggie Nelson’s “autotheory,” David France’s How to Survive a Plague and Wayne Koestenbaum’s casually erudite criticism. This book is a winding, intimate, urgent, freewheeling account of thinking and enduring in difficult times. Gregg Bordowitz (born 1964) is the author of Glenn Ligon: Untitled (I Am a Man) (2018), General Idea: Imagevirus (Afterall Books, 2010) and The AIDS Crisis Is Ridiculous and Other Writings, 1986–2003 (2004). He was an early participant in ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power), where he cofounded several video collectives.
Featured image is reproduced from 'Some Styles of Masculinity'.
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
BOMB
Svetlana Kitto
Some Styles of Masculinity lights up the strange constellation of memory, places, and works of art that constitute a life.
BOMB
Svetlana Kitto
Lights up the strange constellation of memory, places, and works of art that constitute a life.
Brooklyn Rail
Nick Bennett
The book is a complex arrangement of memories, intellect, postulations, jokes, and insights that attempt to capture a performance, on- and off-stage
STATUS: Out of stock
Temporarily out of stock pending additional inventory.
Saturday, Oct 2 at 6PM, Artbook @ MoMA PS1 Bookstore and Triple Canopy invite you to live-stream the book launch, discussion and signing of Some Styles of Masculinity. Gregg Bordowitz will be in conversation with Fred Moten. Friends and frequent correspondents, they will discuss the performance and consumption of ethnicity in music and comedy; the story of Exodus and the promise of diaspora; and the role of culture in combating bigotry and claiming rights, especially in times of upheaval and plague. Register for the live-stream (or a limited number of in-person seats) here,
and pre-order a signed copy at artbookstores.com with free US shipping. continue to blog
FORMAT: Pbk, 4.25 x 7 in. / 240 pgs. LIST PRICE: U.S. $19.95 LIST PRICE: CANADA $26.95 GBP £15.50 ISBN: 9780997852455 PUBLISHER: Triple Canopy AVAILABLE: 11/2/2021 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Active AVAILABILITY: Out of stock TERRITORY: WORLD
Published by Triple Canopy. By Gregg Bordowitz. Introduction by Hua Hsu.
An intimate, urgent and riotous account of masculinity, whiteness, queerness and belief in America
In winter 2018, Gregg Bordowitz performed a three-part lecture series at the New Museum as part of Trigger: Gender as a Tool and a Weapon. Each evening, he explored an avatar of masculinity that was formative to him as he came of age as an outer-borough child of Jewish immigrants, then as an artist-activist in Manhattan at the dawn of the AIDS crisis: the rock star, the rabbi and the comedian. He merged personal and political history, ribald humor and social criticism, performer and persona.
Some Styles of Masculinity is a self-portrait and an essay on upheaval and plague, based on transcripts of the eponymous series, which Bordowitz has reimagined for the page. He asserts that gender can’t be separated from ethnicity, sexuality, class or nationality, and he connects these aspects of himself through personal anecdotes as well as reflections on whiteness, diaspora, comedy and Jewish mysticism. Some Styles of Masculinity evokes David Antin’s “talk poems,” Maggie Nelson’s “autotheory,” David France’s How to Survive a Plague and Wayne Koestenbaum’s casually erudite criticism. This book is a winding, intimate, urgent, freewheeling account of thinking and enduring in difficult times.
Gregg Bordowitz (born 1964) is the author of Glenn Ligon: Untitled (I Am a Man) (2018), General Idea: Imagevirus (Afterall Books, 2010) and The AIDS Crisis Is Ridiculous and Other Writings, 1986–2003 (2004). He was an early participant in ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power), where he cofounded several video collectives.
