Stefano Tonchi
Stefano Tonchi, style editor of The New York Times Magazine, recently co-edited his third book, Excess: Fashion and the Underground in the 80s. Here he chooses books that define that decade.
So80s: A Photographic Diary of a Decade by Patrick McMullan (Powerhouse, $80). Style in the ’80s can be defined as a clash between uptown and downtown. This book is an essential catalogue of the places and people that defined the uptown ’80s, by one of the scene’s real superheroes. Can’t wait for So90s.
Scavullo: Photographs, 50 Years by Francesco Scavullo (Harry N. Abrams, $25). Here are the rich and famous not the way they really were but the way they wanted to be. The late Scavullo was a master at making anyone look glamorous.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe (Bantam, $8). Wolfe’s novel is a time capsule of life in the ’80s, an epic overflowing with sex, money, and status symbols. You’d think that nothing had changed in the last 20 years.
I’ll Be Your Mirror by Nan Goldin (Scalo, $55). Now we head downtown, as Nan Goldin gives us an intensely personal record of her life as a junkie artist and, in the process, creates a portrait of her generation. Her journey took her from the East Village all the way to MoMA.
Slaves of New York by Tama Janowitz (Washington Square Press, $14). A proto–Sex in the City downtown New York. The characters in this collection of stories—artists, grad students, junkies, and collectors—thought of themselves as the center of the world before globalization and the digital age.
We’re Desperate: The Punk Rock Photography of Jim Jocoy
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brady Bunch
-
Mall World: why are people dreaming about a shopping centre?Under The Radar Thousands of strangers are dreaming about the same thing and no one sure why
-
Why scientists are attempting nuclear fusionThe Explainer Harnessing the reaction that powers the stars could offer a potentially unlimited source of carbon-free energy, and the race is hotting up
-
Codeword: October 27, 2025The Week's daily codeword puzzle
-
Gilbert King’s 6 favorite books about the search for justiceFeature The journalist recommends works by Bryan Stevenson, David Grann, and more
-
Nathan Harris’ 6 favorite books that turn adventures into revelationsFeature The author recommends works by Kazuo Ishiguro, Ian McGuire, and more
-
Marisa Silver’s 6 favorite books that capture a lifetimeFeature The author recommends works by John Williams, Ian McEwan, and more
-
Lou Berney’s 6 favorite books with powerful storytellingFeature The award-winning author recommends works by Dorothy B. Hughes, James McBride, and more
-
Elizabeth Gilbert’s favorite books about women overcoming difficultiesFeature The author recommends works by Tove Jansson, Lauren Groff, and more
-
Fannie Flagg’s 6 favorite books that sparked her imaginationFeature The author recommends works by Johanna Spyri, John Steinbeck, and more
-
Jessica Francis Kane's 6 favorite books that prove less is moreFeature The author recommends works by Penelope Fitzgerald, Marie-Helene Bertino, and more
-
Keith McNally's 6 favorite books that have ambitious charactersFeature The London-born restaurateur recommends works by Leo Tolstoy, John le Carré, and more