Flash

[A]n energetic and informative biography...Bonanos's revelatory portrait of 'Weegee the Famous' will interest general readers, as well as those with a special interest in photojournalism. --Publishers Weekly Flash is a crackling portrait of a man and his era--as immediate and as alive as Weegee's pictures themselves. Chris Bonanos vivifies not only his subject, but the long lost New York that he lived in, and that made him. --Daniel Okrent, New York Times bestselling author of Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition Weegee, in addition to being one of the greatest photographers ever, was a cartoon character and something of a living myth. This has confused perception for the better part of eighty years. Christopher Bonanos's nuanced and sympathetic account succeeds in merging those three aspects--not only was a lot of the bluster for real, but even the pure baloney was hard-won and contextually grounded. His is a sweet and melancholy book and a doorway into a mostly misremembered past. --Luc Sante, author of Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York Arthur 'Weegee' Fellig was perhaps the perfect vehicle for defining and delivering the fear and wonder of the modern city to our American spirit. Journalist, artist, and huckster, Weegee stole shards of a New York through a camera lens, then reassembled the great city in a mosaic that somehow--despite a fair degree of fraud--still defines urbanity itself for us. We know the photographs, and now, with this biography from Christopher Bonanos, we can finally know something of the legendary, improbable, and much-caricatured man. --David Simon, creator of HBO's The Wire and The Deuce There's something about a car crash that makes people slow down as they pass by. The same is true of Weegee's photos. Maybe I wouldn't have liked to have known him, but it would've been interesting to have met him. And this fascinating biography by Christopher Bonanos brings to life the gritty old New York City where he lived and worked. He was a legendary character whose work inspired young hopefuls like myself. --Cindy Sherman, artist Flash is a crackling portrait of a man and his era--as immediate and as alive as Weegee's pictures themselves. Chris Bonanos vivifies not only his subject, but the long lost New York that he lived in, and that made him. --Daniel Okrent, New York Times bestselling author of Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition Weegee, in addition to being one of the greatest photographers ever, was a cartoon character and something of a living myth. This has confused perception for the better part of eighty years. Christopher Bonanos's nuanced and sympathetic account succeeds in merging those three aspects--not only was a lot of the bluster for real, but even the pure baloney was hard-won and contextually grounded. His is a sweet and melancholy book and a doorway into a mostly misremembered past. --Luc Sante, author of Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York Arthur 'Weegee' Fellig was perhaps the perfect vehicle for defining and delivering the fear and wonder of the modern city to our American spirit. Journalist, artist, and huckster, Weegee stole shards of a New York through a camera lens, then reassembled the great city in a mosaic that somehow--despite a fair degree of fraud--still defines urbanity itself for us. We know the photographs, and now, with this biography from Christopher Bonanos, we can finally know something of the legendary, improbable, and much-caricatured man. --David Simon, creator of HBO's The Wire and The Deuce There's something about a car crash that makes people slow down as they pass by. The same is true of Weegee's photos. Maybe I wouldn't have liked to have known him, but it would've been interesting to have met him. And this fascinating biography by Christopher Bonanos brings to life the gritty old New York City where he lived and worked. He was a legendary character whose work inspired young hopefuls like myself. --Cindy Sherman, artist