Fire in the Belly

The Life and Times of David Wojnarowicz

By: Cynthia Carr

Narrated by: Cynthia Barrett

Length: 25 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

David Wojnarowicz was an abused child, a teen runaway who barely finished high school, but he emerged as one of the most important voices of his generation. He found his tribe in New York’s East Village, a neighborhood noted in the 1970s and ’80s for drugs, blight, and a burgeoning art scene. His creativity spilled out in paintings, photographs, films, texts, installations, and in his life and its recounting - creating a sort of mythos around himself. His circle of East Village artists moved into the national spotlight just as the AIDS plague began its devastating advance, and as right-wing culture warriors reared their heads. As Wojnarowicz’s reputation as an artist grew, so did his reputation as an agitator - because he dealt so openly with his homosexuality, so angrily with his circumstances as a Person With AIDS, and so fiercely with his would-be censors.

Fire in the Belly is the untold story of a polarizing figure at a pivotal moment in American culture - and one of the most highly acclaimed biographies of the year.

©2012 Cynthia Carr (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"[Fire in the Belly is] unimprovable as a biography - thorough, measured, beautifully written, loving but not uncritical - as a concentrated history of his times, and as a memorial." (Luc Sante, Bookforum)

So glad this was available on Audible!

If you could sum up Fire in the Belly in three words, what would they be?

I'll be forever thankful to Cynthia Carr for this incredibly comprehensive, evocative, thoroughly researched and atmospheric account of a fascinating and underrated East Village artist--from his harrowing childhood to his premature death from AIDS. It's a biography not only of the man but of an era. It made me wistful and nostalgic, and brought me back to a long-gone NYC when things were raw, exciting, gritty, and full of possibilities, even at a time of plague.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Fire in the Belly?

Very hard to say. The book is like an incredible tapestry of intricately interwoven events and observations. It would be hard to isolate one as a standout moment, especially given that this is a biographical work.

Did Cynthia Barrett do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

Question does not really apply to this book, which is a biography.
Ms Barrett does have a nice, even, clear voice that is very easy to listen to (even though she does tend to over-enunciate at times).

HOWEVER-- I was kind of appalled that she didn't know how to pronounce an alarming number of words and names. And she completely demolished every French word she pronounced. I don't expect perfect, prissy language but an Audible reader should be able to pronounce fairly common terms, names, and places, especially for a book filled with cultural references like this one. "Basquiat," for instance, was uttered in every conceivable way except the correct one. "Oeuvre" was occasionally pronounced as "oorf" and any European artwork or artist names were mangled to the point of farce.

Ms. Carr's text deserved better than this.

I actually dreaded passages in which David W. was heading back to France because I knew that I'd be subjected to more hideous mispronunciations. But aside from such considerable distractions, she read beautifully. I wish she could go back and record over the gaffes, though this would take a considerable amount of painstaking work.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, although that would have been one extraordinarily long sitting!

Any additional comments?

Loved it. One of the best artist biographies I have ever read.

Amazing

This is an amazing book about an extraordinary artist and of the time of gay liberation thru aids.

Only bad thing, the narrator mispronounced a smattering of art world names and terms.

The Most Fascinating Artist you've Never Heard Of

What did you love best about Fire in the Belly?

The honest beauty of it. It didn't just chronicle a person, it catalogued a time.

Who was your favorite character and why?

That doesn't really apply here. But aside from the title "character" I loved learning about Peter Hujar.

Have you listened to any of Cynthia Barrett’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, so I have no clue.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Not without cause.

Any additional comments?

If you are art all interested in the art scene in NYC in the early 80s beyond Basquiat et al, read this.

An absolute must !

Terrific on all front,
Truly a masterpiece account of the life and times
Of David W.
Prob one of the best book on Art, New York and east village

Why did they let this person read?

Commenting on the audio book: the reader not only has the worst possible voice and diction for this book, it looks like she didn’t do much preparation. She pronounces “Basquiat” at least three different ways, and that’s not the only thing she gets wrong. Meanwhile: excellent book, impressive research. Where there were discrepant versions of an event, I was struck by the technique of letting all the voices speak rather than trying to pick “the true” version. She also lets Wojnarowicz be as angsty, self-involved, and melodramatic as he apparently was, without taking away from his art, his words, and his significance.

Wrong narrator, sounds like a 2nd grade phonics teacher

Fantastic biography. Truly. Blew through this 600p tome in 4 days thanks to Carr’s expert cadence and firsthand experience of the events.

The narrator is completely wrong for the topic. Multiple, head-scratching mispronunciations distract from an otherwise heavy hitting work. Narrator routinely bungles Carr’s spare, purposeful sentences depicting the AIDS crisis with the song-song vapidity of a second grade phonics teacher.