Bruce Benderson (born August 6, 1946) is an American author, born to parents of Russian
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
descent, who lives in
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
. He attended William Nottingham High School (1964) in
Syracuse, New York and then
Binghamton University
The State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University or SUNY Binghamton) is a public research university with campuses in Binghamton, Vestal, and Johnson City, New York. It is one of the four university centers in the State ...
(1969). He is today a novelist, essayist, journalist and translator, widely published in France, less so in the United States.
In 2004, Benderson's lengthy erotic memoir ''Autobiographie érotique'', about a nine-month sojourn in Romania, won the prestigious French literary prize Prix de Flore. The book was published in the United States (Tarcher/Penguin) and the United Kingdom (Snow Books) in 2006 under the title ''
The Romanian: Story of an Obsession''.
Career
Benderson's book-length essay, ''Toward the New Degeneracy'' (1997), looks at New York’s
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...
, where rich and poor once mixed in a lively atmosphere of drugs, sex, and commerce. Benderson argues that this kind of mingling of classes has been the source of many modern avant-garde movements, and he laments the disappearance of that particular milieu. His novel ''User'' (1994) is a lyrical descent into the world of
junkies and
male hustlers. He is also the author of ''James Bidgood'' (
Taschen
Taschen is a luxury art book publisher founded in 1980 by Benedikt Taschen in Cologne, Germany. As of January 2017, Taschen is co-managed by Benedikt and his eldest daughter, Marlene Taschen.
History
The company began as Taschen Comic ...
, 1999), about the maker of the cult film ''
Pink Narcissus''.
A book