Because Teaching Sociology At Penn And Playing The Saxophone Is Not Enough
Full disclosure: David Grazian is appearing at our TLA Philebrity Screening Series….but that doesn’t mean he isn’t deserving of some tough love. When you write a tome depicting the culture of Swanky Bubbles and Dirty Frank’s, we take notice.
If you spend half a decade researching “urban nightlife” in Old City for your next novel, you’d better come away with an encumbering amount of fascinating insight. Beyond what one could normally observe every single weekend in the scant few blocks that make up the 19106. You could spend a solid hour or two emptying your soul on 2nd St., or you could delve into David Grazian’s On the Make: The Hustle of Urban Nightlife, and it’s likely you’d come up with the same findings. Or just type “Old City” into our search box and let that paint the picture for you, even easier.
“On any given weekend, club bouncers match wits with queued-up thrill-seekers desiring admittance; dinner parties of six argue over available tables; cocktail drinkers vie for the attention of a bartender or server; hip-shakers attack the dance floor with their eyes directed toward all onlookers. . . .”
Is he saying anything that isn’t already part of that speech you give to visiting friends and family as you hurry them through Old City towards more respectable destinations? You know the one. “Oh, I go to the Khyber sometimes, but really, Old City is an extension of New Jersey and should be avoided while on the way to Real Philadelphia. Getitgotitgood?”
If Grazian can get away with this, then what’s to stop us from exploiting Fishtown more than we already do? It’s a matter of loyalty, and more likely the idea that if you really want to know a place, you have to throw yourself into it instead of memorizing word for word the contents of a Times article or in this case, a Philly nightlife tome. We can gather that much, thought we haven’t gotten our hands on it yet. We’re setting aside some Rainy Day Reading Time and will let you know if the four page Craig LaBan Memo is the least bit scintillating.
Inky: It’s Like Man Vs. Wild On The Discovery Channel, With Less Discovery
January 30th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Uh…so you haven’t read it yet?
January 30th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
The gritty urban nightlife ain’t what it used to be.
January 31st, 2008 at 12:13 am
Yeah, I can’t believe Joey would poke fun at what he hasn’t read. And here I thought he was above that kind of third-grade nonsense…….
It’s a crying shame he wants to make fun of the book and/or Dave, because the book is a well-executed ethnographic analysis. It may be difficult to understand the subject matter because we experience it first-hand, but people outside of this city will find it worth their time. I know it’s so hard to believe people actually exist outside of Philadelphia. But they do.
January 31st, 2008 at 10:46 am
I took one of his classes once. It was the easiest class of MY LIFE. One of our papers (seriously!!) was to write a two page account of a night out in Philadelphia. I made sure I included all of the dirty details.
January 31st, 2008 at 11:08 am
@ katy p:
Let the record show that the above post was not, in fact, penned by Sweeney. You can adjust your blanket judgement (and accompanying sense of injustice) accordingly.