Josh Alan Friedman Reviews

Back in 1987, writer-guitarist Josh Alan Friedman sold his soul to the devil at the crossroads (the Crossroads of the World - Broadway & 42nd Street) and transferred to Texas. He'd only written TALES OF TIMES SQUARE (Feral House), a cult classic. An Expanded Edition using fresh chapters was recently released, while the still-unfinished picture of TALES has played 35 film festivals.

Josh Alan's latest is a new edition of his highly regarded collection TELL THE TRUTH UNTIL THEY BLEED in Wyatt Doyle Books. It follows his acclaimed novel BLACK CRACKER (Wyatt Doyle Books), the narrative of his tumultuous youth as the only white boy at Long Island's last segregated school.

Before that: WHEN SEX WAS DIRTY (Feral House); I, GOLDSTEIN: MY SCREWED LIFE (together with Al Goldstein, Thunder's Mouth Press); and NOW DIG THIS: THE UNSPEAKABLE WRITINGS OF TERRY SOUTHERN (co-editor, Grove Press).

He put off satirical flames and lawsuits as writer-half of those Friedman Bros, the dreaded cartooning duo of the late '70s and '80s. Two anthologies stay in print, including the art of Josh Alan's brother, Drew Friedman: WARTS AND ALL (Fantagraphics), along with ANY SIMILARITY TO PERSONS LIVING OR DEAD IS PURELY COINCIDENTAL (Fantagraphics).

On the audio front, as "Josh Alan," he barnstormed the nation of Texas for 20 years, rocking whole arenas with his Guild D-40. Copping three Dallas Observer Music Awards for Best Acoustic Act, '' he published four records: FAMOUS & POOR, THE WORST! , BLACKS 'N' JEWS (the name of which turned into a movie on Josh's lifetime) and also JOSH ALAN BAND. SIXTY, GODDAMMIT, his first album in 15 decades, is available today.

He shares fresh work and choices from his archives - articles, photographs, video and music - to his site, www.BlackCrackerOnline.com

Josh Alan Friedman Quality Chart