Bright Nights

Tod Seelie loves New York, but not the version depicted in postcards. His city is an underground haven for people at society's edges, people who come alive at night, who make music and art and noise and mess. This startlingly beautiful collection of images captures a gritty culture that belies the city's glamorous persona. Here are punk bands and bike parades, abandoned spaces and skeezy clubs, junk-filled lots and sketchy streets. Interspersed throughout the book are texts from Seelie's friends and fellow artists, along with an introduction by Jeff Stark, editor of the iconic alternative events e-mail list Nonsense NYC. The photographs in the book create a love poem to the city that not only doesn't sleep-it cavorts around at 3:00 am looking for the next adventure.