The Hard Crowd: Essays 2000-2020

The Hard Crowd collects twenty years of essays by novelist Rachel Kushner, spanning topics from motorcycle racing and classic cars to art, literature, and revolutionary politics. The pieces move between her experiences in San Francisco's music scene, her time in the competitive racing world, and her observations of contemporary culture. The collection features both personal narratives and critical works, including profiles of artists and writers alongside accounts of Kushner's youth in San Francisco. Her essays cover interactions with figures in Italy's radical left, explorations of Jeff Koons's art, and memories of working as a bartender in the Tenderloin district. Many pieces draw from Kushner's background in the worlds of motorcycles, fast cars, and mechanics - subjects that appear throughout her fiction work. The essays incorporate archival research and interviews while maintaining connections to her lived experiences in these subcultures. The collection examines themes of risk, freedom, and the intersection of art with political resistance. By connecting her personal history to broader cultural movements, Kushner creates a portrait of American counterculture and its evolution from the 1980s to the present.

Readers note Kushner's strong voice and insight into subcultures like motorcycling, prison reform, and the San Francisco art scene. Many point to her personal essays about growing up in San Francisco as the collection's highlights. What readers liked: - Raw, authentic descriptions of counter-cultural experiences - Deep knowledge of art, literature, and music - Sharp political commentary without being preachy - Engaging mix of memoir and cultural criticism What readers disliked: - Uneven quality across essays - Some pieces feel disconnected or meandering - Technical motorcycle details lose some readers - Writing style can be dense and academic Ratings: Goodreads: 3.8/5 (500+ ratings) Amazon: 4.2/5 (100+ ratings) Sample review: "The essays about her youth in SF and racing motorcycles are riveting. The art criticism pieces, less so." - Goodreads reviewer "Her perspective on Italian politics and prison reform shows impressive range, but a few essays feel like filler." - Amazon reviewer

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🔸 Rachel Kushner did motorcycle racing competitively in her youth, which inspired several essays in the collection, including "Girl on a Motorcycle" and her reflections on the Baja 1000 race. 🔸 The book's title "The Hard Crowd" comes from a Cream song lyric and refers to the San Francisco bar scene of the author's youth, where she worked as a bartender in the 1980s. 🔸 Before becoming a novelist and essayist, Kushner was an editor at BOMB Magazine and wrote art criticism for Artforum, experiences that inform her cultural commentary throughout the collection. 🔸 The essays span two decades and three continents, covering topics from Italian radical politics and Palestinian refugee camps to Jeff Koons's art and the American prison system. 🔸 Kushner's research for these essays included visiting a Palestinian refugee camp in Jerusalem, riding motorcycles through the Baja California desert, and spending time in various prisons while working on her novel "The Mars Room."