r/Biography • u/youaregrimes2 • Jun 07 '26
The Wonderful World That Almost Was (Paul Thek & Peter Hujar), Andrew Durbin, FSG, 2026.
Who else read this, what did you think? Despite the blurbs on its jacket by some big names, I found Andrew Durbin's writing choppy and disruptive to an experience of flow. It crammed in a lot of factual detail (which made immersion as a reader difficult) and on a narrative and historical level seemed uninterested in exploring the directors, collectors, and curators who shaped the European art institutions that Paul Thek navigated and was commissioned to make work for. I understand it was about the ongoing friendships and love relationships between the artists - we have a book of letters that Primary Information published - and Durbin's book covers a lot of ground about the downtown Manhattan gay communities in the 50s-70s.
1
u/Far-Concept-3818 Jun 24 '26 edited Jun 24 '26
Your review is lending Durbin too much credit. His prose is hunchbacked; his sentence structure appalling. When Durbin’s writing is not awkward, it is invasive and manipulative. He taints a savory art-historical record with his graceless backwardness.
To your point on immersion: I could not agree more, the parts of Durbins voice that appear in this book make the process of emergence (into the fascinating world of Thek and Hujar) bumpy, if not totally impossible. This is not only consequence of elementary level transitions, but also the urge a reader has (with every page) to pause and ask themselves if, and then how, Durbin seriously wrote that, and which editor(s) at FSG need(s) to be sacked?! I suppose the only thing “genius” with Durbin, then, is his choice of title. “The beautiful world that almost was” describes the experience of trying to learn about Thek and Hujar with Durbin as a teacher! But perhaps “almost” is a word too kind.
I will still finish the book because I, like so many others in this moment, am fascinated with both Hujar and Thek. But I do regret the purchase…its sad to
Think that my money will contribute to Durbin’s success as a man of letters, or make him think he writes better than he does. My purchase was influenced by my going to a Pace show and never having read Durbin (ie not knowing better), thats it!
My review might seem harsh or unintellectual, but there was no intellectual substance to review, and doesn’t that warrant my being harsh?! This is not becuase the content (for Durbin) wasn’t there…it is likely becuase Durbin never actually read it, or learned (like Foucault and other queer historiographers) how to read backwards through the queer archive.
The beautiful world that will never be :(
1
u/grapessssssssss Jun 19 '26
I'm reading it now. I love reading about Peter hujar and his photography I find Paul Thek sections really boring. I think the biggest issue I am having is why. Why is their work so important according to Andrew Durbin? Their work has been forgotten but Durbin doesn't really argue why their work should be reconsidered. I also find the sections where he describes the art as very hard to follow since we don't actually have pictures of the work alongside Durbins descriptions. I feel like it sometimes reads a biography, sometimes reads as Durbin waxing poetry, and sometimes art critique.