Fire in the Belly

by Cynthia Carr

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  ______. In the Shadow of the American Dream: The Diaries of David Wojnarowicz. New York: Grove Press, 1999.

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  _______. Memories That Smell like Gasoline. San Francisco: Artspace Books, 1992.

  _______. Sounds in the Distance. London: Aloes Books, 1982

  _______. The Waterfront Journals. Edited by Amy Scholder. New York: Grove Press, 1996.

  Wojnarowicz, David, and James Romberger. Seven Miles a Second. New York: DC Comics, 1996.

  An alien head placard on the funeral pyre at the end of David’s political funeral. (Photograph by Brian Palmer/bxpnyc.com)

  A Note on the Author

  Cynthia Carr was a columnist and arts reporter for the Village Voice from 1984 until 2003. Writing under the byline C. Carr, she specialized in experimental and cutting-edge art, especially performance. Some of these pieces are now collected in On Edge: Performance at the End of the Twentieth Century. She is also the author of Our Town: A Heartland Lynching, a Haunted Town, and the Hidden History of White America. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Artforum, Bookforum, Modern Painters, the Drama Review, and other publications. She was awarded a Guggenheim fellowship in 2007. Carr lives in New York.

  By the Same Author

  Our Town:

  A Heartland Lynching, a Haunted Town,

  and the Hidden History of White America

  On Edge:

  Performance at the End of the

  Twentieth Century (as C. Carr)

  Copyright © 2012 by Cynthia Carr

  Electronic edition published in July 2012

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information address Bloomsbury USA, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

  Published by Bloomsbury USA, New York

  Certain passages first appeared in the Village Voice in slightly different form. Used by permission.

  Photograph on title page by Marion Scemama.

  Every reasonable effort has been made to trace copyright holders and to secure permission for material reproduced in this book.

  LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

  Carr, C.

  Fire in the belly : the life and times of David Wojnarowicz / Cynthia Carr.—1st U.S. ed.

  p. cm.

  Includes bibliographical references (p.) and index.

  ePub: ISBN 978 1 60819 420 9

  1. Wojnarowicz, David. 2. Artists—United States—Biography. I. Title.

  N6537.W63C37 2012

  700.92—dc23

  [B]

  2012000684

  First U.S. edition 2012

  www.bloomsburyusa.com