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Cleaning Up New York
  • Published: 15 April 2016
  • ISBN: 9781936941131
  • Imprint: NY Review Books
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 88
  • RRP: $32.99

Cleaning Up New York

The '70s Cult Classic

Formats & editions
EBook
12 Apr 2016
Paperback
15 Apr 2016
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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.

THE EAST VILLAGE, NYC, 1976.

A 26-year-old starving poet needs $60. What else to do but register with a temp agency as a house cleaner? The excitement never wanes as he is catapulted into the everyday yet unimaginable worlds behind closed (apartment) doors.

Bob knows one thing: the dirt will always win. Clients are a bit more unpredictable, he discovers, as he comes to terms with eccentric domestic habits and strange discoveries. When Bob becomes a weekly fixture in his clients’ lives, anything can happen, and does, including a memorable encounter with an obliging Hoover that ultimately proves unable to get the job done. 

Cleaning Up New York has been a cult classic since it was first published in 1976 in an edition of 750.
  • Published: 15 April 2016
  • ISBN: 9781936941131
  • Imprint: NY Review Books
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 88
  • RRP: $32.99
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Praise for Cleaning Up New York

"[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