Glenn O’Brien: Intelligence for Dummies

An all-star line-up reads from the recently-released Intelligence for Dummies: Essays and Other Collected Writings by Glenn O’Brien, an influential writer and editor who captured cultural life in America over four decades of commentary on music, art, politics, fashion, and advertising. Following readings by writer Ernest Hardy, author Jonathan Lethem, designer Andy Spade, and art journalist Linda Yablonsky, the latter will be joined by entrepreneur Michael Zilkha, the publisher of the book, for a conversation and Q&A.
 

Glenn O’Brien (1947–2017) was a widely influential writer, editor, and poet, whose columns for Andy Warhol’s Interview, Artforum, GQ, Purple, and other publications provided commentary on music, art, politics, fashion, and advertising for more than four decades. He was also the creator and host of Glenn O’Brien’s TV Party, a late-night variety talk show that ran from 1978 to 1982, assembling such personalities as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Fab 5 Freddy, and Blondie’s Debbie Harry and Chris Stein. Said author Michael Chabon of Intelligence for Dummies, “Enclosed in this beautiful package, please find: an agile mind, a perfect style, a canny an undeceivable heart. And a welcome, enduring presence in the reader’s life.”

About the Publisher

ZE Books publishes literary mix-tapes from visionary writers, artists, and musicians. Bridging the personal and public, each ZE book is a creative life manifested through writing, art, and photography. ZE Books is the vision of founder Michael Zilkha, the founder of ZE Records, the New York City label that melded punk and disco into its own distinct mutant disco between 1978 to 1984.