Book summary

Nan Goldin's intense color photographs charting the loss of innocence in New York's East Village, via the harrowing world of drugs, prostitution and various forms of sexual dependence. She calls this book "the diary I let people read."

Media reviews

"...Goldin's gritty visual record of New York's bohemian community of the '70s and '80s dispels, on a purely visual level, the fantasy and illusion associated with romantic love. On a deeper level, however, fantasies of every stripe surely burn within all her subjects....Often depicted alone in cheap hotel rooms, Goldin's subjects seem to be at war with themselves, hungry for life, and willing to take whatever risks are necessary in the pursuit of it....A potent reminder of the fact that love is a learn-as-you-go process nobody ever masters..."