“To her [Schulman’s] mind, the undigested, unacknowledged trauma of AIDS has brought about a kind of cultural gentrification, a return to conservatism and conformity evident in everything from the decline of small presses to the shift of focus in the gay rights movement towards marriage equality. . . . The memory of this lost moment of accountability drives Schulman’s final, stirring call for degentrification, her dream of a time in which people realize not only that it’s healthier to live in complex, dynamic, mixed communities than uniform ones but also that happiness that depends on privilege and oppression cannot by any civilized terms be described as happiness at all.”—New Statesman
“This is a very good, very sad book about the aftershock of the AIDS crisis in New York. Schulman is a truly gifted thinker . . . Wherever your politics lie, Schulman’s book is a reminder that you need to fight for them everyday if you want to make a difference.”—FADER
“Schulman uses gentrification, the phenomenon of wealth moving into ‘sketchy’ urban neighborhoods where artists live and making them desirable and unaffordable, as a metaphor for what's happened in literary and arts-world culture over the years. The author, a true woman of letters, makes a persuasive case.”—Bay Area Reporter
“A brilliant critique of contemporary culture. . . . the most important book of the year.”—Cult MTL
“A beautifully written screed . . . Schulman shines when she taps her deep knowledge of the AIDS movement—she was a key founder of ACT Up—and the New York art scene to honor those artists who are gone and forgotten. Her rage at the developers who swooped in like vultures to snap up AIDS victims’ apartments is righteous, and her pain at how little a younger generation knows about AIDS is palpable.”—Now Magazine
“Through a focus on the pulse of the queer community (of the 80s), it touches upon the individual condition (of today).”—Velvetpark
"Rousing."—Bookslut
"Sarah Schulman, as always, hits the nail on the head. I can't imagine a more insightful probe into gentrification and its inhumane consequences. Everyone needs to read this book."—Martin Duberman, author of
Stonewall“Sarah Schulman's
The Gentrification of the Mind is a bulwark against the collective loss of memory. AIDS, gentrification, the struggle for gay rights, the class war that has driven entire communities of artists, immigrants, and outsiders from the neighborhoods they created—all these things have been erased by the official culture. Schulman's book will make you rage and weep, and then—just maybe—organize.”—Luc Sante, author of
Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York"Hard-headed, sensitive, and informed, this book will make the confused world of urban redevelopment and gentrification make notably more sense. Schulman has a mind as clear as a bell in evening. You'll be glad you read it. I was."—Samuel R. Delany, author of
Through the Valley of the Nest of Spiders