Kill All Your Darlings: Pieces 1990-2005

Kill All Your Darlings collects fifteen years of essays by Lucy Sante, covering topics from New York City's history to photography to personal memoir. The pieces were originally published in outlets like The New York Review of Books, Harper's, and The Village Voice. Through a blend of reportage and cultural criticism, Sante examines subjects including Walker Evans's photography, the early punk scene, life in downtown Manhattan, and the Belgian village where she spent her childhood. Each essay maintains focus while drawing unexpected connections between its central subject and broader cultural currents. The book showcases Sante's eye for detail in both urban observation and historical investigation, moving between first-hand accounts and scholarly analysis. The fifteen essays vary in length and style but share an interest in the overlooked corners of culture and society. The collection demonstrates how personal experience intersects with cultural history, suggesting that our understanding of art, cities, and society emerges from both documented facts and lived experience. Through these varied pieces, patterns emerge about authenticity, memory, and the ways we construct meaning from fragments of the past.

Readers praise Sante's personal, observant voice across these essays, particularly in pieces about New York City life and photography. Many note her ability to blend cultural criticism with memoir. Several reviewers point to the essays "My Lost City" and "The Factory of Facts" as standouts. Readers appreciate: - Sharp insights into art, music, and urban culture - Clear, unpretentious writing style - Mix of history and personal experience Common criticisms: - Some essays feel dated or too specific to 1990s NYC - Collection lacks cohesion between pieces - Academic tone in certain sections Ratings: Goodreads: 4.0/5 (116 ratings) Amazon: 4.5/5 (11 reviews) Reader quote: "Sante writes with the precision of a historian and the soul of a poet. Her observations about NYC's transformation are both clinical and deeply felt." - Goodreads reviewer The book maintains steady ratings but has limited review volume online.

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🔹 Lucy Sante underwent a gender transition in 2021 and now uses she/her pronouns, though this essay collection was published under her former name Luc Sante 🔹 The book's title comes from William Faulkner's famous writing advice: "In writing, you must kill all your darlings" - referring to the need to eliminate even beloved passages that don't serve the work 🔹 As a renowned cultural historian, Sante taught writing and the history of photography at Bard College for over 20 years, influencing a generation of writers and artists 🔹 The collection includes Sante's groundbreaking essay on the birth of hip-hop culture, originally published in The New York Review of Books, which helped legitimize hip-hop as a subject for serious cultural criticism 🔹 Many essays in the book focus on New York City's forgotten history and underground culture, drawing from Sante's experience living in the Lower East Side during the 1970s when it was still a dangerous, bohemian neighborhood