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.
Subscribe to 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
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brady Bunch
-
How the woke right gained power in the US
Under the radar The term has grown in prominence since Donald Trump returned to the White House
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK
-
Codeword: April 24, 2025
The Week's daily codeword puzzle
By The Week Staff
-
Crossword: April 24, 2025
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff
-
Susan Page's 6 favorite books about historical figures who stood up to authority
Feature The USA Today's Washington bureau chief recommends works by Catherine Clinton, Alexei Navalny, and more
By The Week US
-
Ione Skye's 6 favorite books about love and loss
Feature The actress recommends works by James Baldwin, Nora Ephron, and more
By The Week US
-
Colum McCann's 6 favorite books that take place at sea
Feature The National Book Award-winning author recommends works by Ernest Hemingway, Herman Melville, and more
By The Week US
-
Max Allan Collins’ 6 favorite books that feature private detectives
Feature The mystery writer recommends works by Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and more
By The Week US
-
John McWhorter’s 6 favorite books that are rooted in history
Feature The Columbia University professor recommends works by Lyla Sage, Sally Thorne, and more
By The Week US
-
Abdulrazak Gurnah's 6 favorite books about war and colonialism
Feature The Nobel Prize winner recommends works by Michael Ondaatje, Toni Morrison, and more
By The Week US
-
Elliot Ackerman’s 6 favorite books on war and duty
Feature The Marine veteran recommends works by Robert A. Heinlein, John le Carré, and more
By The Week US
-
Xochitl Gonzalez’s 6 favorite books that shaped her storytelling
Feature The best-selling author recommends works by Stephen King, Julian Barnes, and more
By The Week US