Essays & Features
"Learning from Park Planned Homes"Revisiting Gregory Ain's social housing after the Eaton Fire Los Angeles Review of Books
"The Cruel Genius of Robert Plunket’s Gay Satires"
His 1992 novel Love Junkie might be one of the tragicomic classics of the AIDS era.
The Nation
His 1992 novel Love Junkie might be one of the tragicomic classics of the AIDS era.
The Nation
"She Was Paying Attention: Remembering Alexis Smith"A remembrance of the artist Alexis Smith (1949-2024)Momus
"Watching Her Watching Him" An essay on Lea Lublin's radical 1968 performance Mon fils, in which childcare became art. Supervision: On Motherhood and Surveillance
"Beautiful, Lonely, and Degraded: Gavin Lambert's LA"In his 1979 novel The Goodby People, he finds a picturesque city defined by its sense of disconnection and immense sadness.
The Nation
The Nation
"The Most Dangerous Architect in America"Gregory Ain wanted to create social housing in Los Angeles. Dogged by the FBI, his hope for more egalitarian architecture never came to be.The Nation
"Dennis Cooper's Love Story of a Lifetime"His new book, I Wished, asks: What can a novel do in the service of remembering a lost love?
The Nation
The Nation
"Mythos and Cliché: The Fractured History of Los Angeles"Learning from and reckoning with the stories writers tell about a world-historical city.The Nation
"We Must Write Well: On Cecilia Pavón’s Little Joy"A review of Little Joy, the first collection of short stories by the great Argentine writer Cecilia Pavón to be published in English.Los Angeles Review Of Books
"Echos From The Edge" On David WojnarowiczX-TRA
"The Vanishing Queer Underground of Los Angeles"Reynaldo Rivera’s photos of the city's nightlife document a time of cheap rent and possibility.The Nation
"Angelyne"An audio piece on my run-ins with Angelyne, the mysterious billboard queen of Los Angeles, for KCRW's The Organist. Listen here And here for a discussion of the story on KCRW's Press PlayKCRW
"Streetwalker"About women walking in the city and Lauren Elikin's book Flâneuse.Los Angeles Review of Books
"Lost Enchantment"Interior designer Tony Duquette was known for bedazzling style. A short-lived Malibu ranch would have been his crown jewel.Art Los Angeles Reader
"Beyond The Muscle"An essay on Bob Mizer, legendary physique photographer and the creator of Physique Pictorial, America's first gay magazine. East of Borneo
"Homesick: On Larry Sultan At LACMA"An essay about the photographer Larry Sultan.Los Angeles Review of Books
"Art on Air"An essay about the L.A. underground radio Station KCHUNG
(And listen to KCHUNG here!)East of Borneo
"The Ballad Continues: On Nan Goldin"Revisiting The Ballad of Sexual Dependency.
Los Angeles Review of Books
Los Angeles Review of Books
"Humaness Always Comes First" An essay about the amazing Beat-era poet, artist, and spiritual leader Bob Alexander and his Temple of Man in Venice, California.East of Borneo
"What Do We Know of Death"An essay on a trip to Buenos Aires, the untimely death of a friend, and the writing of Sam D’Alessandro. Published in the first issue of Night Papers.
Night Papers
Night Papers