ThoughtGallery.org > Just Announced > Frederic Tuten in Conversation with Steve Martin

Frederic Tuten in Conversation with Steve Martin

Novelist, essayist, and critic Frederic Tuten recalls his personal and artistic coming-of-age in 1950s New York, a defining period that would set him on the course to becoming a writer. Born in the Bronx to a Sicilian mother and Southern father, Frederic Tuten always dreamed of being an artist. Determined to trade his neighborhood streets for the romantic avenues of Paris, he learned to paint and draw, falling in love with the process of putting a brush to canvas, and the feeling it gave him. At fifteen, he decided to leave high school and pursue the bohemian life he’d read about in books, a life of salons and cafes and “worldly women” from whom he could learn and grow. But, before he could, he would receive an extraordinary education, right in his own backyard. My Young Life is the story of those early formative years where, as Tuten travels downtown for classes at the Art Students League, spends afternoons reading in Union Square, and discovers the vibrant scenes of downtown galleries and Lower East Side bars, he finds himself a member of a new community of artists, gathering friends, influences—and many girlfriends—along the way. Frederic Tuten has had a remarkable life, writing books, traveling around the world, acting in and creating films, and even conducting summer workshops with Paul Bowles in Tangiers. Spanning two decades and bringing us from his family’s kitchen table in the Bronx and the cafes of Greenwich Village and back again, My Young Life is an intimate and enchanting portrait of an artist’s coming-of-age, set against one of the most exciting creative periods of our time. Here’s when it starts and ends.

Frederic Tuten is the author of five novels and My Young Life, a memoir. His short stories, art, and film criticism have appeared in such places as ArtForum, The New York Times, Vogue, Granta, and Harpers. Tuten is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship for Fiction and the Award for Distinguished Writing from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Steve Martin is one of the most well-known talents in entertainment. His work has earned him an Academy Award, five Grammy awards, an Emmy, the Mark Twain Award, and the Kennedy Center Honors.

Paula Cooper Gallery, 524 W. 26th St.

Admission is free. To guarantee a seat, purchase a copy of My Young Life in advance at 192 Books (available March 5th) or on the evening of the event at Paula Cooper Gallery.

Doors open at 6:30.











When: Mon., Mar. 11, 2019 at 7:00 pm

Novelist, essayist, and critic Frederic Tuten recalls his personal and artistic coming-of-age in 1950s New York, a defining period that would set him on the course to becoming a writer. Born in the Bronx to a Sicilian mother and Southern father, Frederic Tuten always dreamed of being an artist. Determined to trade his neighborhood streets for the romantic avenues of Paris, he learned to paint and draw, falling in love with the process of putting a brush to canvas, and the feeling it gave him. At fifteen, he decided to leave high school and pursue the bohemian life he’d read about in books, a life of salons and cafes and “worldly women” from whom he could learn and grow. But, before he could, he would receive an extraordinary education, right in his own backyard. My Young Life is the story of those early formative years where, as Tuten travels downtown for classes at the Art Students League, spends afternoons reading in Union Square, and discovers the vibrant scenes of downtown galleries and Lower East Side bars, he finds himself a member of a new community of artists, gathering friends, influences—and many girlfriends—along the way. Frederic Tuten has had a remarkable life, writing books, traveling around the world, acting in and creating films, and even conducting summer workshops with Paul Bowles in Tangiers. Spanning two decades and bringing us from his family’s kitchen table in the Bronx and the cafes of Greenwich Village and back again, My Young Life is an intimate and enchanting portrait of an artist’s coming-of-age, set against one of the most exciting creative periods of our time. Here’s when it starts and ends.

Frederic Tuten is the author of five novels and My Young Life, a memoir. His short stories, art, and film criticism have appeared in such places as ArtForum, The New York Times, Vogue, Granta, and Harpers. Tuten is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship for Fiction and the Award for Distinguished Writing from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Steve Martin is one of the most well-known talents in entertainment. His work has earned him an Academy Award, five Grammy awards, an Emmy, the Mark Twain Award, and the Kennedy Center Honors.

Paula Cooper Gallery, 524 W. 26th St.

Admission is free. To guarantee a seat, purchase a copy of My Young Life in advance at 192 Books (available March 5th) or on the evening of the event at Paula Cooper Gallery.

Doors open at 6:30.

Buy tickets/get more info now