Days in the Clouds - (Semiotext(e) / Native Agents) by Duncan Smith (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The never-before-published last essays of the late Duncan Smith, at once heartbreakingly personal and bracingly intellectual.

Following the appearance of his theoretical tour-de-force The Age of Oil and his AIDS diagnosis, Duncan Smith (1954-1991) produced Days in the Clouds, a collection of thirty-eight essays sparkling with his characteristic linguistic brilliance. Now published for the first time, Days in the Clouds chronicles Smith's response to the disease that would kill him as well as its severe impact on downtown NYC culture. At once heartbreakingly personal and bracingly intellectual, these essays examine in exacting detail a range of subjects, from the semiotics of gay life and the visionary potential of nature to the shortcomings of Susan Sontag's writings on illness, the literary criticism of Paul de Man, and, as always with Smith, the meanings hidden within proper names.

Alongside Days in the Clouds, Semiotext(e) is bringing out the much-awaited republication of Age of Oil, Smith's brilliant and long out-of-print collection of essays from 1987.

About the Author

Duncan Smith (1953-1991) is known for his innovative writings that reflect his extensive research in psychoanalysis, semiotics, Marxist ideology, and literature. In 1976, Smith left undergraduate studies at the University of Washington to move to New York City, where he became a beloved friend for many in downtown avant-garde circles. In 1987, Slate Press published Smith's first collection of cultural criticism, The Age of Oil. That same year, in the midst of earning his PhD at Cornell University, Smith learned of his HIV-positive status and embarked on a series of essays centered on his experiences with AIDS. These would become Days in the Clouds, completed in Portland, OR, some months before his death in February 1991.

Bruce Hainley is the author, among other books, of Under the Sign of [sic]: Sturtevant's Volte-Face, Foul Mouth, and Really, No Biggie, and cowrote with John Waters Art--A Sex Book. He assembled and edited Gary Indiana's Vile Days: The Village Voice Art Columns 1985-1988 as well as Commie Pinko Guy, a publication that accompanied the first European survey of the work of Larry Johnson. He has curated numerous exhibits at both national and international art institutions, most recently, with Shahryar Nashat, a project for the Renaissance Society, Chicago.