For Sale: Clay & Phillips. A Secret Location on the Lower East Side (Adventures in Writing 1960-1980). NY: Granary Books with The New York Public Library, 1998.

Description

Celebrated for its meticulous documentation of an important era in American literary history. It is both a valuable resource for scholars of experimental literature and a nostalgic journey for those who lived through or were influenced by the counterculture of the 1960s and 1970s. The book underscores the enduring impact of small presses on contemporary writing and publishing.

The book is a tribute to the avant-garde literary culture of the time, focusing on the vibrant communities of writers, artists, and publishers centered in New York City’s Lower East Side and beyond. It highlights the explosion of independent presses, mimeographed magazines, and experimental writing that defied mainstream publishing norms.

I can’t recommend this title enough. In fact, at any time I might just pull this book off the site and put it back on my personal shelf. From Clay and Phillips’s documenting the small press movement to their coverage of the little mag / mimeo movement to the book’s archival richness and cultural contexts, A Secret Location on the Lower East Side is absolutely essential reading for anyone remotely interested in this topic — and very much out of print.