Downtown and The Twilight of Bohemia

Peter Trachtenberg is the author of The Twilight of Bohemia, a history of Westbeth, the first government-subsidized housing community for artists. His other books include 7 Tattoos, The Book of Calamities, and Another Insane Devotion. He’s a recipient of Guggenheim, Whiting, and NYFA fellowships, and the Nelson Algren Award for Short Fiction.

Francine Prose is the author of numerous books, including 1974: A Personal History, Anne Frank, Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris 1932 and Blue Angel. A Distinguished Writer in Residence at Bard College, she lives in New York.

Howard Michels is a painter, illustrator, engraver, and sculptor living in New York. He shows at A Hug From the Art World in Manhattan.

Sur Rodney (Sur) is a writer, curator, and archivist who works collaboratively, drawing on performance, writing, and community archives. He has served on the board of Visual AIDS and helped establish the Visual AIDS Archive Project, a web-based resource for educators and researchers.

The Twilight of Bohemia: Westbeth and the Last Artists in New York (Godine) is an intimate history of America’s first publicly funded artists’ housing project and its residents, and the precarious place of art-makers in a changing New York City.

“A page-turner. The force and beauty and clarity of Peter Trachtenberg’s writing make The Twilight of Bohemia impossible to put down.” —Francine Prose, author of 1974

“A melancholy love story about a completely original enclave for artists.” —Eileen Myles, author of Afterglow

“Magnificently researched and written with verve, wit and compassion. It represents a standard for how urban history should be done.” —Phillip Lopate, author of A Year and a Day

“How often have you read a great book and thought, ‘Why can’t I live there? Why can’t I live that story?’. . . Trachtenberg has artfully, tenderly, and wisely recreated New York City’s legendary Westbeth artists’ community.” —Mary Gabriel, author of Ninth Street Women