STUFF: A New York Life of Cultural Chaos

STUFF: A New York Life of Cultural Chaos

By Kim Hastreiter. Foreword by Whitney Mallett, Jeffrey Deitch, Carlo McCormick. Photographs by Jeremy Liebman. Cover art by Jim Joe.

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

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.

This book was published in conjunction with Amazing Unlimited

ABOVE: Maira Kalman's portrait of Kim Hastreiter for 'The New Yorker.'

PRAISE AND REVIEWS

Michael Stipe

STUFF is a meteoric rush of wonder, sass, and cool—told in a torrent of sonic booms. I couldn’t put it down.

David Byrne

Kim is a one person social media. She will say “YOU have to meet THIS person!” and is almost always right. It’s a public service, no charge. Her stuff is remnants of a life well lived, but these wacky and wonderful things are also convenient conversation starters, even for someone like me who had been somewhat challenged in that area. All of them have stories. Art without pretense, but with lots of surprises. Like Kim, they’re connectors.