Fork On The Left, Knife In The Back by Michael Musto

What a great title. Michael Musto was the pop culture journalist for the Village Voice, where he wrote the column La Dolce Musto and contributed to magazines such as Details, Interview and Vanity Fair. This fourth book of his is a collection from the early 90's until now.

"There are those who love to gossip and there are complete liars. I've always been quite open about being the former type. I can't drive, swim, or rearrange the furniture, but throw me a celebrity name and I can flap my gums for hours about their love lives and weird surgery."

In this collection he opens the doors to readers about Broadway openings, movie premiers, downtown after hours drag clubs, fashion misadventures, and the rise and fall of celebrities.

For 29 years at the Village Voice, his weekly trashtastic gossip and nightlife column spanned the highs and lows of celebrity, blowing the whistle on absurdity while highlighting the aspects that make it so entertaining with dizzying bouts of "Oh no. He didn't." For those who like that sort of thing, touch the feet of the master.

Fork on the Left, Knife In The Back is a calvacade of eyebrow raising and eyeball rolling, counter-culture social climbers, plus the allure of blind items ~ pesky items without names to drive the readers extra crazy. "What trendy author once followed a grungy boy into the bathroom of a train..." Worst private party, worst club or restaurant, he covers it all in flaming detail.

In 1989, he published a novel Manhattan On The Rocks, about a boy who starts a magazine expressly to enter the 80's New York arts scene, hot on the heels of Tama's Slaves Of New York, and Jay's Bright Lights Big City.

Yes, I still have my hardcover copy with it's book jacket quotes from Grace Jones and Sandra Bernhard, and Michael's author picture looking like a young Lou Reed in a spanish bolero jacket. I also have a yellowed column in an old notebook from the Village Voice, circa 1988 - Michael goes to Iceland. He wrote about the nightlife in Reckjavik, and still have the paper strips in my notebook. Perhaps a start in my ongoing interest in Iceland!

Michael was fired from the Voice may 2013, a victim of cutbacks. His columns and previous collections are an amazing chronicle of the 80's, 90's and 00's art scene, a living history of the New York art slave movement. If you longed to go to the Mudd Club, Area, Danceteria while young performers like Madonna were bursting into the mainstream, travel back in time with Michael.

Fork On The Left, Knife In The Back features the 90's until about '06.

A catty collection to keep you right up to date.

2011 / Tradeback / 300 pages