Customer Reviews

80: A Novel

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This novel by Whit Johnston goes beyond clever observations and commetary on the New York social and cultural scene as the city enters a new era, the 80's. This is just one thread in a brutally honest journal that is kept by a young photographer struggling with loneliness and the direction in which she wants to take her career. For one thing, her relationship has recently deteriorated with the man with whom she was living, and she feels uninspired by the jobs that come her way. Her efforts to find provocative subjects that challenge her artistically are some of the best parts of the book. Johnston cleverly writes in real events of the times, placing our heroine there, without the scenes becoming cloying name-dropping passages. For example, he mentions a subway graffiti artist whose simple chalk outline drawings of glowing babies and barking dogs people steal as soon as they are put up. Most people will know that was Keith Haring. I think if you were living in NY in 1980 and were at the very least aware of the cultural scene, you will find the thinly disguised references to real characters at the time most satisfying. This is not to say that the book will be lost on those who were not. Even if you were too young or weren't even born then or not living in NY, the poignancy of the hurt and uncertainty experienced by someone young in a big city translates to all.