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As I read through Kevin Sampsell’s A Common Pornography (Harper Perennial), I kept chanting words from a Velvet Underground song like a mantra: “those were different times.”
Sure, Sampsell writes about times past, but the way he does it haunted me enough that after a first reading, I dove back into it for a second helping. His memories of growing up in the late 70′s into the 80′s are written with such an astute emotional clarity that they translate seamlessly into our current era. The stories he tells are sometimes shocking, sometimes sad, and at other times celebratory, pointing out the little bright spots that we tend to forget about as life beats us down. Throughout each of the 256 pages of this book, you find that Sampsell has the subtle stroke of a master storyteller who doesn’t need to bother with authorly tricks; he is just that good.
What is most striking about Sampsell’s writing is his ability to say so little, yet still draw a picture so detailed that you find yourself relating to his every word. From events that shook the world, such as President Reagan’s shooting (“I secretly hoped that Reagan would die. I craved tragedy for everyone.”) to the horrible experience of being a teenager (“My hormones had a war with my body and slaughtered it from the inside out”) to going through an uncomfortable goth phase, Kevin Sampsell has given us a set of stories I dare admit may be one of the finest accounts of the American experience of the last 30-or-so years.
Jason Diamond
Jason Diamond is the editor-in-chief of Jewcy.com, founding editor of Vol. 1 Brooklyn and an associate editor at Impose Magazine. He lives in Brooklyn among a collection ...
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