Edgewise: A Picture of Cookie Mueller

by Chloe Griffin, John Waters (Contributor), Mink Stole (Contributor)

Cookie Mueller (1949-1989) was a firecracker, a cult figure, a wild child, a writer, a go-go dancer, a mother and a queer icon. A child of suburban 1950s Maryland, she made her name first as an actress in the films of John Waters, and then as an art critic and columnist, a writer of hilarious stories and a maven of New York's downtown art world. "Edgewise" tells the story of Cookie's life through an oral history composed of more than 80 interviews with the people who knew her, including John Waters, Mink Stole, Gary Indiana, Sharon Niesp, Max Mueller, Linda Yablonsky, Richard Hell, Amos Poe and Raymond Foye. The contributors take us from the late-1960s artist communes of Baltimore to 1970s Provincetown and New York, through 1980s Berlin and Positano. Along with the text, "Edgewise" includes artwork, unpublished photographs and archival material and photography by Philip-Lorca diCorcia, David Armstrong, Robert Mapplethorpe, Peter Hujar and others.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Queer, Film, Memoir, History, LGBT

336 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 2014

Reviews

[Morgan M. Page · Rating 5 out of 5]

How to capture a person is the central question in most biographies. In Edgewise: A Picture of Cookie Mueller, Chloé Griffin conjures the spirit of Cookie Mueller - hippie Dreamlander turned downtown New York art star - through an unbroken stream of interviews with the people who knew and loved her. The dozens of voices jump into and out of each other, and though recorded at different times and places they are arranged so skillfully that they often seem to be responding to each other. Edgewise makes you feel like you're in the room with Cookie's family and friends as they reminisce about her. This is a picture of woman who not only defined cool, but who was deeply loved. The way her life was cut short by AIDS is rendered with palpable devastation. If you don't want to cry by the end, you don't have a soul.

[Jesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent and moving document of another time in American counterculture art and literature. Though the story of Cookie Mueller's awful loss to AIDS is--like so many stories about great people from that generation who fell to the disease--just crushing to absorb, the oral history format goes a long way toward capturing the spirit of a character whose life wouldn't have seemed full in a single-voice retelling. Passionately assembled by Chloé Griffin, someone with much of the same spirit of the times she was reporting on. With luck this will lead to the reprinting of Mueller's excellent out-of-print books.

[Phil Overeem · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential. Now if all her writings would be anthologized!

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a f*cking joy it was to read this choral oral history of an American treasure and to get these glimpses into her foundations as one of John Waters' Dreamlanders, then her life as a writer, mother, and NYC scene queen. Wow. This book is deeply touching and made with such evident love.

[Alvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edgewise plunges the reader into a kaleidoscopic swirl of mid-late 20th century bohemia by focusing on the brilliant and charismatic free spirit, Cookie Mueller. The early part of the book gives a bit too much detail about her upbringing, but if you stick with it, the second half is unputdownable. Be prepared to sob a bit at the end as she's cut down far too young by AIDS, but also be prepared to get inspired. Cookie's physical body may be gone, but her spirit lives on - in this tour de force of an oral biography, in her appearances in John Waters' films, and in her fabulous writings, which if you haven't read you absolutely should. Long Live Cookie!

[Spiros · Rating 5 out of 5]

A crowd-sourced biography of a unique and brilliant force of nature: Cookie Mueller was so multi-faceted that this is probably the only feasible way to approach her life. From the freaks surrounding John Waters in Baltimore, to the queer haven of Provincetown, to the junk-fueled Art Scene of Manhattan in the 8o’s, Cookie was the cynosure of all eyes. It’s possible, I suppose, to regret that she came so late to writing; I choose to argue that that the years spent in acting, go-go dancing, and general dissipation were years spent gathering material for her writing. Of course the real tragedy was that her brilliant career was cut so short.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing amazing amazing. I absolutely love oral histories and this is a new favourite. Chloe Griffin didn't just talk to everyone in Cookie Mueller's life from Baltimore to NYC to Positano, she created artwork and sought out the photos that go along with the reminiscences. Anyone interested in not just Cookie Mueller but also John Waters and the Baltimore dreamlanders, the NYC art scene of the 70s and 80s and how AIDS robbed the world of some of the most prolific and creative minds will be totally into this book. Loved it.

[Victoria Law · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. Griffin pieces together a kaleidoscopic deep dive into Cookie Mueller's life and legacy. I am a bit puzzled that Nan Goldin's memories and photos of cookie were missing throughout the book.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been a Cookie Mueller fan since I was a teen. I pre-ordered this book and read it in about 3 days. Chloe Griffin did a great job and spent over six years researching her life and spending time with those that were closest to Cookie. The book chronicles her early days as a child and teen in Baltimore, to her days as a Dreamlander, and then her work in New York. Cookie seemed to live a life that was hers and hers alone and she did not compromise. She stayed true to herself and was a strong individual. Too bad we always lose the good ones young.

[Kevin Dickson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely heartbreaking, insightful biography of an intensely talented, doomed woman who lived and died on her own terms. Fans of Mueller’s writing, art and acting will learn a lot in this book, not all of it good, but that’s almost the point. We are all flawed. But occasionally, along comes someone so hardwired for fabulous that they throw the rule book of life out the window. That’s Mueller. This book serves her very well, it’s sharp, funny and devastating. Like her. I loved every page.

[Iza · Rating 5 out of 5]

astonishing view of Cookie and her greatness - the way people’s stories carry her memory is insanely powerful.
i was naturally overcome by sadness during the recounts of her illness and the amount of loss brought by the beginning of the AIDS epidemic in general.
Cookie would have been an imense figure for the culture to this day and further on. as she is anyway beyond her death ⭐️

[Brain Saladbar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the way she wrote. Cookie forever.

[Rykkar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was crying so hard near the end that I had to take a break to overhand throw some rocks into the water

[grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

cookie is such an amazing lady and this book does a wonderful job of showing that. It’s great to read the contrasting accounts of the same stories, and to see how those stories create the myth and legend of Cookie Mueller. I so wish I could have met her <3

[Jan Stinchcomb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cookie Mueller was an actor, a writer, a mom, an advice columnist, and an irrepressible glamour girl in the New York art scene of the ‘80s. I first noticed Cookie Mueller in a photograph in Nan Goldin’s book, The Ballad of Sexual Dependency. It was a picture of Cookie at her wedding to Vittorio Scarpati, but it was the kind of wedding photograph you don’t often see: unstaged, with the bride dissolving in tears of joy. I had to know who she was.
Chloé Griffin’s book is a series of interviews with many of the people in Cookie’s life, including John Waters, Mink Stole, Gary Indiana, and, most poignantly, her son, Max Mueller. An oral history where gossip and nostalgia intersect, this book offers an intimate look at the artistic process. It is also a portrait of the bohemian subculture of Baltimore, Provincetown and Manhattan in the ‘70s and ‘80s. Finally, it is an exploration of the choices that people--especially women--make when they want to be creators. This excellent debut, which reads like a movie on the page, features photographs from the period as well as excerpts from Cookie’s own writings.

[Tod Wodicka · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Quite possibly the best history of New York’s much-reprised ‘last avant-garde’ of the 1980s, Edgewise reinvents the inspired amateurism of Mueller’s work, and also creates unforgettable portraits of John Waters’s Baltimore and Provincetown in the 1970s, ‘when the water was still clean.’”

—CHRIS KRAUS, author of I Love Dick and Summer of Hate

http://www.cookiemuellerbook.com/about/

[Autumn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good grief, I love an oral history of an underground icon, and this is a great one. Best book about the Dreamlanders I have read besides John Waters' own. Tons of photos, well-designed, and *contains Cookie's astrological chart*. If you don't like this, I don't like you.

[Mills College Library]

Biog M9463g 2014

[Jack Sargeant · Rating 5 out of 5]

good oral history of Cookie and simultaneously offers insights (albeit brief) to NYC in 70s/80s, Ptown in 60s / 70s, etc.

[Dominick Scalero · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book; the author mentions that some myths have been left in; it would have been helpful if she had commented a bit about them.

[Jordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Darren Mitton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting picture of a time & place..

[False · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book exceeded my expectations. I knew so little about Cookie Mueller, beyond the movies, the gossip and her writing. I was surprised that this is the author's first book, because it was so well researched and written. One of the things that comes through is the author’s genuine fascination for Cookie and how she finds her life inspiring. You can tell from the interviews how well the author got to know the people she loved and the rapport she had with them. I especially liked the first person interview style (much like the book “Edie”, about Edie Sedgwick). I also enjoyed the timeline: it follows a standard liner format, more or less, but about 1/3 way through there is a chapter about her childhood. It really works - somehow it emphasizes just how much she shaped her own life, how adventurous she was and how complicated.

Seeing Cookie in Female Trouble reminded me of every girl I went to junior high school with and then some. Especially the scene in the school bathroom. Female heroes don’t have to be perfect mother’s or selfless martyrs - they can be a great friend, an adventurer, a bit of a hustler all mixed together. I am sure many people mourned Cookie when she departed.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Pretty soon we'll be stepping over the bodies of people dying of AIDS to go out dancing." - CM

"I know it was difficult for her, because on one hand, she was trying to embrace all this positivity, and on the other hand, she was a junkie, so that was a challenge." - Bobby Miller on CM

"You have to be careful when you move into that space because it's sacred and you don't want to disrupt it. You don't want to make anything harder." - Pat Burgee on hospice

"Sometimes when I'm looking for a strong rafter..." - Sharon Niesp

"People should feel lonely; sometimes. But not disolvant loneliness without hope - but a sort of thought cluttered, hopeful loneliness. The best kind in the World." - CM

[Zola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cookie Mueller lived an incredible life and this is an incredible book which paints a portrait of her in the words of people who knew her; not just a portrait of her but a portrait of the environment in which she lived, the underground scene of the 60s to the 80s, wild and colourful. There's a quote from one of her friends in the book which I really love, saying something to the effect of... that Cookie always dressed in these fabulous, glamorous outfits which she made herself, and that after she died, her friends went through her wardrobe and realised that all those outfits which had looked so fabulous on her were just basically rags held together with safety pins...

[Ash · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a beautiful book and a joy to read. You would think (or I would think) that a book that’s entirely oral history would have its boring bits but no part of these memories were tedious. You could feel the love for Cookie through them, and I appreciate how full this book seemed, not just a quick snippet but it really got into things. Cookies was a life well lived, and it is deeply inspiring. I would encourage anyone to read her books and I’m happy they are now finally getting reprints.

[Debra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is gold to fans of Cookie Mueller (you know who you are). Featured in John Waters films, muse to photographers, cult writer, standout in the underground scene, this is the only biography approved and contributed to by her son. You’ll love her and miss her more after finishing.

[jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

love the design of this thing but i wish the formatting of this book didn’t feel like a textbook because it made the experience of reading it feel a lil sluggish. that being said it’s filled with great interviews and wonderful stories and a final section that broke my heart

[Noa Whitlow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this book. I've always been fascinated with Cookie and this book only fueled that fire.

[izzy strazzabosco · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing book about one of my favorite humans. this book is so vivid and gives such a beautiful well rounded picture of her. it makes me happy that her legacy is preserved in this way <3