Freaks Come Out to Write - written history of The Village Voice

I read the Voice pretty frequently in the '70s and into the early '80s. I liked Mark Alan Stamaty's cartoons, MacDoodle Street, and Washingtoon. Always read Andrew Sarris's film reviews. J. Hoberman, Michael Musto. I also liked the food writer but I can't remember his name.

I read the Village Voice at the same time you did, r1. I remember both being impressed by the intelligence of many of the writers but annoyed at how edgy they constantly tried to be.

R2 I didn't live in NYC, I lived upstate at the time, so I wasn't always familiar with some of the local NYC issues, and I didn't read the Voice cover to cover, but I did often read the cover stories and the various features. I don't remember a lot about the writers trying to be edgy.

I mostly read it for the music stuff and any and all gay content. My college library didn't have The Advocate but it did have the Voice. Some of the ads in the back would get me very worked up!

I also read Musto. I only read/heard about bits and pieces of the whole Michael Alig story as it was happening so I had no idea Musto's reporting had something to do with the case.

I discovered the Village Voice at my small town kansas public library. This was 1976 , I was 16. I used to grab a copy , then discretely go to an isolated part of library and savor the ads for gay porn movies and gay go go dancers and bars. This was my porn. I was always afraid I would be arrested if anyone caught me looking. Sounds quaint now, but I feel so subversive at the time.

I bought it on newsstands a couple of times in Boston, imagining a cool future for myself someday in New York. We had the Boston Phoenix but there was an understanding that the Phoenix could only aspire to be the Village Voice.