Cleaning Up New York is a fascinating and vibrant look at the insides and outsides of New York City through the eyes of Bob Rosenthal, a 26-year-old starving poet who would go on to be Allen Ginsberg's secretary for 20 years, as well as an excellent writer and poet in his own right. Told with warm wit and insight, Cleaning Up New York gives readers an unforgettable tour of the city's homes and inhabitants, and even some expert cleaning tips along the way.
Bob Rosenthal was Allen Ginsberg's secretary for 20 years until Ginsberg's death, and currently is a chief advisor to the Ginsberg estate. A poet and writer, he is currently working on a chronicle of the business of Allen Ginsberg. He taught English Language and Literature at the Abraham Joshua Heschel High School in New York City.
“A deeply humane, often hilarious and ultimately moving little
treatise on intimacy.” —Sadie Stein, The New York Times Book
Review
“I first read Cleaning Up New York when it was published in the
1970s and I’ve been recommending it to people ever since. It’s one
of those great, rare works the style of which—immaculate, with
unexpected descriptor glints, and funny, low-key
frankness—perfectly embodies its subject, namely the revelation of
soft shine in humble corners of New York. it’s a miracle and you
don’t have to be clean to appreciate it.” —Richard Hell
“Bob Rosenthal’s Cleaning Up New York is a perfect little gem of a
book. There is not one wasted or misplaced word in this chronicle,
which manages to contain an awful lot of the world in its few
pages. It’s not only about the city and its range of denizens, but
also about the art of living, the satisfaction of humble work, the
way poetry arises from daily experience. and if that weren’t
enough, it also includes really useful advice about cleaning!”
—Lucy Sante
“[Cleaning Up New York] is one of the great neglected books of the
1970s, a classic short essay...it’s brilliant and playful...and
eminently practical, too.”—The Endless Bookshelf blog
Praise for Straight Around Allen
“Bob Rosenthal’s unique, remarkable, and candid recollections of
two decades working as secretary for Allen...are, quite frankly,
essential reading.”—The Allen Ginsberg Project blog
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