Contents

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. Prologue 1
4. 1. A Tale of Two Cities 9
5. 2. Taking the Trains: The Formation and Structure of “Writing Culture” in the Early 1970s 38
6. 3. Writing “Graffiti” in the Public Sphere: The Construction of Writing as an Urban Problem 75
7. 4. Repainting the Trains: The New York School of the 1970s 107
8. 5. The State of the Subways: The Transit Crisis, the Aesthetics of Fear, and the Second “War on Graffiti” 134
9. 6. Writing Histories 167
10. 7. Retaking the Trains 207
11. 8. The Walls and the World:Writing Culture, 1982–1990 227
12. Conclusion: A Spot on the Wall 267
13. Appendix: Sources from Writers 273
14. Notes 275
15. Selected Bibliography 341
16. Acknowledgments 345
17. Index 349