Modern Saint #271

Modern Saint #271

The book “Slaves of New York” contains a selection of interlinking stories while resonating in Manhattan, the stories within the book primarily focus on the constant struggle in pursuing an Artistic life. All the characters come from different backgrounds who all aspire to become either famous or loved or just to feel that they belong in society.

This can be clearly exemplify with the character of the prostitute who initiates the book in the opening chapter “Modern Saint” which tells the story of a girl who is also the narrator of the story who moved from her wealthy family in Tennessee as she believed that she could “never accept the role life had assigned to me” who then moves into an apartment in New York. She has a slew of jobs from and intern at an Advertising Agency to a script until she then ultimately becomes a prostitute in which she meets her pimp called ‘Bob’.

Throughout these stories, women tend to serve or be dependent on men. Thus suggesting that their self-esteem is lower than that of men. This can be exemplified through the character of the prostitute. She also is very descriptive about the many types of penises she has encountered “Some large, others quite shriveled and pendulous of testicles"

She later explains that “when [she and her pimp] first became friends, he was driving a taxicab, but soon found this left little time for his own work, whic h was to write.” The irony of this is that in coming to New York to pursue a writing career, to “make art” you’re never permitted the luxury of time or money to create it From the the very outset of the book, we are shown the consequences of living within New York for an up and coming artist, which in essence is to performing menial jobs for money while you try to reserve time in order to explore your own personal ambitions in life.


"Although the medium of artistry has changed since the late 80s–where once it was graffiti, canvas and mixed media that prevailed, now it seems blogging and social commentary of a bloviating kind is the constitution of an artist"

The portrayal of New York within the book is still very much a relevant portrayal of the city in the modern era. Because everyone who moves here with dreams of fame and importance within his or her particular niche.