Peter Hujar's Day

by Linda Rosenkrantz, Stephen Koch (Contributor)

On December 18, 1974, Linda Rosenkrantz asked her friend Peter Hujar to write down everything he did one day. Hujar met Rosenkrantz at her apartment on 94th street the following day where she asked him about it in detail. She tape-recorded their conversation and this book is a full transcript of that exchange, published here for the first time since it was recorded 47 years ago.

Edited and designed by Jordan Weitzman and Francis Schichtel
With an introduction by Stephen Koch

Genres: Nonfiction, Art, Photography, Biography Memoir, Queer, Memoir, Biography

46 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2021

About the author

Linda Rosenkrantz is an American writer, known for her innovations in the realm of “nonfiction fiction,” most prominently in her novel Talk, a New York Review Books classic.

Reviews

[nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

“𝘐 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵…𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘺.”

Since the film adaptation won’t be coming to me anytime soon, I thought I’d pay this a visit after not having read Rosenkrantz since somewhere in my undergrad. I used to read these empty, chatty books. I’m thinking Adler, I’m thinking Capote. Stories.

Here I am, returning to them because it’s that time of the year where I’m reflecting and want big chats with old friends to ask them about their year, to fill in the details I missed out. Because I used to live alongside my friend’s lives, when living side-by-side was so inherent. Listing things. Funny anecdotes. Being away from home, and after so long, you miss the fine points. You miss the feelings. You don’t talk like you used to. Mostly because we’ve all become different people.

Here, Hujar talks about photographing Ginsberg, and with the sounds of it, I think Hujar finds him to be a queer bore. Not queer like that, no, like funny, an oddball. And he talks about Sontag. Big Kiss. Darling. Big kiss. Goodbye. One sandwich. Waiting on money. Sending photos. It really is just a day, dull in its roundabout way, but a day that happened some decades ago, and just hearing about it is like sitting on my friend’s bed, listening to some dumb story they’ve probably told once or twice before, but it’s one that they like, and they tell it with the same gusto, switching up flourishes, wanting me to feel it the same way I felt it the first time I heard it, but they don’t know this because it’s a story that they think they’re telling for the first time, and what they believe to be the first time is my third time but who’s doing the math anymore. I don’t even do that with my age. I don’t even do that with the dinners or the tears or the cups of coffee, all a measure of grace, all labors of love. Live love. Not often do I get to live love like this. But when it happens, I’m happy to be alive for another day, no matter how delightfully dull it may be.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice slice o life

[Sam Albert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Owned this book for nearly 2 years and finally found the chutzpah to read it after Sally and I fought over it in a San Francisco bookstore only to serendipitously find a second copy of it a few months later in Portland’s glorious Powell’s. A stunning portrait of one of the greatest and under-appreciated photographers of the 20th century rendered beautifully by a delicate narrative hand and an experimental style that I’d love to replicate with all my closest friends to keep as a time capsule. Hujar seems like such a sweet, witty, and exceedingly humble person, it’s a gift to have spoken with him in the way this text allowed me. A testament to something as ephemeral as conversation, friendship, and the creative milieu of the east village in the late twentieth century. Shoutout Susan Sontag and Fran Lebowitz cameo!! Shoutout Sally parallel play!! Shoutout Peter Hujar’s stunning apartment (but where was this torturous portrait of Allen Ginsberg 🤨)!!

[Joey Shapiro · Rating 3 out of 5]

It feels very easy to fall for the delusion that something completely ordinary becomes extraordinary when an extraordinary person does it, and I came into this with that mindset. This is literally just Peter Hujar dictating an arbitrary day in his life to his friend Linda Rosenkrantz— if i did this nobody would buy it in book form! But it works less as celebrity portraiture (although it is in a very microscopic way that) and more as a very zoomed-in portrait of a place and an era and a culture. Peter is a fun narrator and in a very nonchalant way drops these little images and moments that humanize huge cultural figures— a phone call from Susan Sontag, a call from Fran Leibowitz, a photoshoot with a dickish, pathetic Allen Ginsberg. Nothing about this is show-stopping or all that major, but it’s charming and only 30ish pages so I’m glad enough I read it.

[metempsicoso · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ogni tanto vorrei essere meno impulsivo nelle mie retate libresche.
Per esempio questa, quella che mi ha portato a fare incetta di volumi di/su Peter Hujar, avrebbe potuto essere gestita con più ponderatezza.
Questo libricino? 36 facciate (con un'introduzione e una nota conclusiva), 4 fotografie + la copertina, una conversazione riprodotta. 19 euro.
Un po' troppo.
Bella l'idea alla base - Rosenkrantz ha registrato racconti di singole giornate di suoi amici -, ma il risultato lascia il tempo che trova.
Ho apprezzato il frangente in cui nella conversazione è comparsa Susan Sontag, vividissima anche da riprodotta, molto meno quello dedicato all'odioso Allen Ginsberg.
Hujar intrigante.
Però questo suo soffermarsi ripetuto sul peso della gente... Mah, anche meno.

[Sally Elhennawy · Rating 5 out of 5]

FINALLY read this stunner after having bought in San Francisco almost two years ago now. Just the sweetest slim volume, and what a treat to peer into a day in the life of such an iconic figure as Peter Hujar, whose casual retelling revealed both the inner workings of a particular era of New York bohemia, and just how essential he was to its network. A day in his life is like truly no other. I particularly loved being reminded of how cheap everything was in the 70s (the notion of something costing a certain amount of CENTS) and how lovely it is that people simply dropped in on and called one another to ask what was up. Shoutout Sam‘s parallel read… a long time in the making 🌟

[Adam Messinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was boring and then I was like Adam stfuuuuuu like what do you want???? The beauty of the boring is valid. Sometimes death wields the stamp of icon on our most mundane activities. Gay men of my generation will never succeed in photography because the act of capturing queer bodies is no longer radical—it’s cliche. You will unfortunately have to die prematurely for your black n white photos of your naked gay male friends to be worth anything.

Also I had the pleasure of meeting Linda recently and I cried because she is 91 years old and smarter and more with it than some of the actual basketcase 60 year olds I know.

[Shadib Bin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peter Hujar is someone I dearly admire and love. This small little conversational book is everything and more about Peter living through a random day - full of attention to details, dry humor and wit, and ambitions that really shine through without ego. Adore this book.

[Geoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant peek into the mind and life of a photographer I admire from a lost generation of gay men.

[Valerie Kamen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book that mostly takes place on the street I live on in ny on a balcony in Madrid.

Like proto liveblog which I’m coincidentally and simultaneously re-reading

Everyone should be required to write about at least one normal day in their life . I love this shit

[Harry Smith]

what does anyone really do with their days?

[Juan A. Ramirez · Rating 5 out of 5]

great gay racconteur

[Freya Hicks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful book and idea. Can’t wait to see the film!

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

beauty in the mundane

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up at Mast Books to get a sense of it.
Shamelessly devoured it from Stephen Koch’s introduction to last word while patrons had to move around me (sorry)

It was a rush. As someone endlessly in love with new york with a specific fetish for new york in the 70’s, this was catnip.

Hujar is so casual but still particular with his speech. He seemed aware that even his generic days were culture shaping. I could almost see the smirk when he admitted that sontag may - in fact - be a bit out of touch. I, along with the rest of the world, are deeply familiar with hujar’s haunting and often melancholic photographs. What a treat to get a slice of his (decidedly not) mundane.

Also loved rosenkratz’ concept for this experiment and her voice during the interview and her diligence to ensure this day could make its way to my greedy paws.

[laura]

I wish i could read about the next day and the next day and the next and next and next

[Chris McLaughlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read entirely on Dec. 18, 2025, 51 years after Peter Hujar’s Day.

In honor of Peter Hujar here’s the sum of my day.

I woke up in a bad mood stressed about my tasks for the day. I had just gotten my hair cut the night before but it didn’t sit right when I woke up this morning so I took a shower to wet it and reset it despite having taken one less than 12 hours before. My car was iced over and I scraped the windows furiously just to begin my commute, never mind get to my destination. I listened to “The Uncensored Picture of Dorian Gray” audiobook as I drove. My GPS diverted me through town roads rather than the highway before I got to the parking garage I normally go to and caught the subway from there. I began reading “Peter Hujar’s Day” on the train before walking to my office. Once there I got caught up on notifications, greeted my coworkers, and made myself a customary free Thursday bagel with cream cheese with a cup of coffee. I began chipping away at the assignments I had been procrastinating before taking a long lunch to read more of “Peter Hujar’s Day.” I paused when I heard from a friend who told me something in confidence. I was irked by the gadfly in chief per usual in the latest of his stunts, and then returned to work. I made more progress on another task I’d been delaying and finished it before leaving the office. I made my way by train across the river and began a multi-hour journey criss-crossing neighborhoods to see and capture visuals of extravagant holiday light displays. I made it back to my car, drove home, had a less than satisfying dinner, and sat down here to write this all down. Only one more day until I’m mostly off for an extended period for the holidays.

[Vicky · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this kind of day-in-the-life writing with banalities like making a cup of coffee with two pieces of toast with raspberry jelly, using the coffee pot as a watering can for the plants, doing 27 push-ups, signing prints with a pen that's going bad, therefore making Peter Hujar's name look "puny." But then there is also arriving to Allen Ginsberg's apartment to take his portrait for the New York Times and namedropping a buncha well-known people that I don't know, so I had to underline them all with my red pencil. Sometimes it's annoying because you're disconnected from this circle, but sometimes it's fine, like these are discoveries to look up later. I really only recognized Susan Sontag and Janet Flanner.

All of December 18, 1974 was recounted to Linda Rosenkrantz the day after. I meant to read this on December 18th, but for such a short book, I still didn't even find time to pick it up, though I carried it in my backpack. This reminded me of the Philosophy of Andy Warhol and Eileen Myles's conversational tone of writing. I love how everyone is always calling each other on the phone like it's no big deal. I can't imagine doing that today.

I had the feeling that I had done nothing except gotten up, photographed Allen Ginsberg and developed the film and that was it. I often have the feeling that in my day nothing much happens, that I've wasted it.

SAME

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a brilliant concretization of a fluid and moving, subtle and virile time shared between Peter and Linda (author), who transcribed the tape recording she produced of her friend Peter.
My MA at CalArts thesis in Critical Theory focused on the relationship between Hujar, Wojnarowicz, and Thek. Three gay male artists united through their love and care of each other, their work as artists, their struggles and their made-vulnerable physical status resultant of the purposely inactive Reagan Administration governing at the time of the infections and deaths from HIV-AIDS.
Sound familiar?
But I digress. What makes this so particularly moving and evocative is how fleeting a day is when in the life of anyone. How what we choose to share when we really think about it can be revelatory to anyone who is allowed to listen. Linda understood this and had the prescience to cast the spell of forever when she made this tape that day and subsequent book.
And I am excited to say now as a major motion picture! Yes, true, and examples how vivid and explicit this simple but profound action between Peter and Linda all those years ago brought this forth. Read this book.
Read this book.

[Bel de Gier · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this when I couldn’t read any of the scholarship I need to get through or smoke cigarettes or have another coffee or walk home and everything felt exhausting and frustrating and beautiful under the December light and so all I had was a few hours to sit down and think of someone else’s day in order to remember the needs and textures of my own.

I give this three stars only because I think it works most beautifully as a piece in Ira Sachs’ incredible, skin-like film. Reading it makes any writer remember that writing dialogue the way that we speak is impossible, how full our days are, how much we lie, how beautifully we articulate things without realising, and asks us to contemplate all of the things we get up to between sleep and waking without full-fat realisation.

I feel better — and so I’ll walk home, I’ll read my scholarship, I’ll smoke a cigarette, I’ll think of Peter, I’ll use commas.

[JonK]

Obvs a slight text - the recounting of a Hujar day - from Rosenkrantz concept to see how friends filled their days. Perhaps would have been more interesting to have multiple friends' days presented together. As another reviewer noted, unfortunately, Hujar seemed pretty shallow. The most interesting narrative is Hujar recounting NYT assignment to get portrait of Ginsberg. Hujar recounts how Ginsberg doesn’t give him time of day during their hours together with Hujar and Rosenkrantz cattily bantering about Ginsberg’s aloofness. Turns-out Ginsberg was probably correct.

If you’re interested in Hujar’s social constellation, perhaps you’ll find this worthwhile.

[Charlotte Zinsser · Rating 3 out of 5]

- Didn’t enjoy the first half of his day because I didn’t know the people he was discussing
- Hard to follow the conversational format because it’s so far from grammatically correct, but it got better when the story picked up the pace, when he started talking about Ginsberg
- I think the book would be extremely enjoyable if you were a part of this scene or if you know who all of the people are
- Peter certainly comes across as cool and likeable

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the concept of this book - Rosenkrantz asked various people to write down everything thing they did on a particular day, and then the next day, she interviewed them and asked them about their day - not sure if she did anyone other that Hujar, but he was such a good choice. Can't wait to see what the movie version of this book looks like.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a charming "conversation." It's quite beautiful to just hear a detailed retelling of a day that meant so little to the speaker, but holds to much to the reader - all these decades later.

I won't lie, I wanted more. Maybe even for Hujar to think on some of what he did and the why/how of it all. But, I guess that wasn't the point. Not to examine or explain, just to tell.

[Lorri Steinbacher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read in preparation for the movie. It's an interesting concept--having people with exceptional talent write down everything that happens in their day. So you end up with mundane activity mixed with name dropping, mixed with insight into how creativity expresses itself day to day.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

“I needed a nap. Does that sound like too much?”

Photographed Ginsberg, played harpsichord, had two naps and met so many characters- but he thought his day wasn’t interesting.
This was lovely to read. I could almost hear the crackle of the tape recorder and Linda is so funny.

[Margarete Maneker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whenever I go to see a movie at Village East, I take a moment to peer up to the corner windows of the apartment above the marquee, where Peter lived at the time of this book. Charming and delightful fragment of a forgone era

[Wendell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this. A slice of life chat in the day in the life of an artist lost too soon to AIDS. I love how he's just mentioning the different people he talks to and thinks about across his day and here we are decades later knowing who those names become. Really enjoyed this.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

It seems I can now devote a small shelf to books with a very narrow scope: a day, a bus, a bench. There is something I love about this fleeting glimspe into another life, another way of seeing things.
Cannot wait for the film.

[Corey]

“I often have the feeling that in my day nothing much happens, that I’ve wasted it.”