The Bowery

The Bowery by Michael D Zettler. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780877497356.

Contains over 75 black and white photographs documenting life on the lower est side of New York. "Literally, the Bowery, on New Yorks lower east side, is a two-way street that runs north-south starting at Astor Place. Through the years it has taken on other meanings and now the name brings thoughts of winos, down-and-outers, the end of the line. Those images are not without validity, and if you should go there, or just wake up there, you wont be disappointed. Whatever youre looking for in the way of pain, torment, and degradation is on open display, available to the general public, if you will, what the rest of us would try so desperately to hide, is here out in the open. And thats what makes the Bowery unique. There is little pretence here; these men are alcoholics, drunks, and most readily acknowledge this, referring to themselves in the most self-disparaging terms possible. Unable to cope with a world that seems to have little time for them or their problems, they retreat to the safety of wine and kindred souls,... The Bowery."