Stuff: A New York Life of Cultural Chaos

by Kim Hastreiter

A joyful romp through the singular and eclectic material world of a true New York character

Published with Amazing Unlimited.

Kim Hastreiter, cofounder of the beloved Paper magazine, has spent the last 50 years amassing a vast and iconoclastic collection of stuff. This volume, aptly titled STUFF, chronicles an extraordinary slice of history and the people who defined it, using Hastreiter’s singular edit of art, fashion, design, photography, books and ephemera as a lens. In these pages you’ll meet Hastreiter’s amazing friends: at an all-night party in the basement of an East Village church with Keith Haring; a private art sale with Jeffrey Deitch in Phyllis Diller’s kitchen; or impromptu cocktails at Trader Vic’s with Salvador Dalí and Joey Arias.

STUFF is more than a memoir; it’s a loopy, joyous, chaotic ride through the last half century of cultural chaos in the greatest city on earth. Whether you are an OG or a kid, a culture vulture, artist, design buff, fashion nerd, skater, collector, chef, cinephile, New Yorker, uptowner, downtowner, out-of-towner or something else entirely, STUFF will make you feel like you’re sitting with Kim in her garden high above Washington Square Park, her booming voice imploring you to pursue your life with compulsive enthusiasm. The book features an exclusive cover design by the elusive yet legendary artist Jim Joe, best known for designing the iconic album cover for Drake’s If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late.

Kim Hastreiter is a New Jersey native and consummate New Yorker. She is a cultural anthropologist and the original multi-hyphenate. An editor, publisher, curator and big idea person, she is best known for cofounding the legendary Paper magazine together with David Hershkovits, which they sold in 2017.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction

448 pages, Hardcover

Published April 1, 2025

About the author

Kim Hastreiter is co-editor of the independent New York fashion magazine, Paper. Via her Macintosh SE 30 (which, as a keepsake, still occupies a corner of her office desk) she was a “lurker” on The Well throughout the early 1990s. She was recently profiled in the New York Times.

Reviews

[Kellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved Stuff! I found it inspiring, joyful, bittersweet, and affirming. The photographs and layouts are fabulous, and the book gave me a real sense of hope while validating some of the odd choices I’ve made in my life. This is a book I’ll be keeping forever.