At its center this is a book about a girl who learned to believe in herself at a time when her industry did not. The project itself went through an equally frustrating gestation, and I’d take twice as many setbacks if it meant that I’d end up with Mark Chait as my editor. Mark Chait’s third thing is his integrity, and I look forward to watching him pass that along to his young son. It was Mark, not me, who figured out this project’s third thing, and when he discovered it every paragraph and comma that did not perfectly embody it seemed to melt away. At the beginning of this story I am a restaurant employee two blocks down from the HarperCollins office. I used to dream that someday I’d write a book and get to meet with a publisher, and never, for all my wild dreaming, could I ever have imagined meeting with such a brilliant crew. That’s due to Cal Morgan, publisher and patron saint of hopeless writers. Thanks also to Carrie Kania, Jonathan Stein, Denise Oswald, and the great Kevin Callahan.
And Gaga. Thanks for the adventure of a lifetime. What makes you great is not the quality of your voice or talent, but your soul. It has a density twice that of a diamond, and the way you share it with the world is inspiring. I want you to promise that you will always take care of it for me. It’s your third thing.
About the Author
BRENDAN JAY SULLIVAN, aka DJ VH1, is a writer, producer, and DJ best known for his work with Lady Gaga. His writing appears in Esquire, Vice, and Interview in the United States and L’Optimum and L’Offciel Hommes in France. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
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Praise for Rivington Was Ours
“Brendan Jay Sullivan is a writer’s writer. Yes, he’s that good.”
— Gary Shteyngart, author of Super Sad True Love Story
“Sullivan delivers a delectable romp through Stefani Germanotta’s early days—and offers a unique window into the process by which she became Lady Gaga.”
— Zack O’Malley Greenburg, author of Empire State of Mind: How Jay-Z Went from Street Corner to Corner Office
“I’ve long said New York City’s greatest asset is its people, and Brendan Jay Sullivan is awesome proof. A great writer, an incredible dresser, and a proud slave to rock and roll, the man is firing on all cylinders like a motherf*cker.”
— Dave Hill, comedian, contributor to This American Life
“Brendan Sullivan gives his love letter to the Lower East Side, where a big piece of my heart will always live, along with all of our friends and foes. This book perfectly sums up that last cusp of cool the LES had.”
— Jake Bernstein, Bond Music Group
“Through charm and wit and sheer force of will, Brendan Jay Sullivan has insinuated himself into New York nightlife, and through his talent with words, he has brought you along as his plus-one.”
— Joe Garden, writer for The Onion
“Richly detailed, funny, and poignant. Who knew Lady Gaga’s lower-Manhattan dance club scene of the late 2000s needed a Bright Lights, Big City?”
— Steve Knopper, author of Appetite for Self-Destruction: The Spectacular Crash of the Record Industry in the Digital Age
“Brendan is an amazing talent, a gifted writer, and a wonderful spirit.”
— Rob Principe, cofounder of Scratch DJ Academy
Credits
Cover design by Richard Ljoenes
Front cover photograph © Casey Flanigan
Copyright
The names and identifying characteristics of some of the individuals featured throughout this book have been changed to protect their privacy. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
RIVINGTON WAS OURS. Copyright © 2013 by Brendan Sullivan. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
FIRST EDITION
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sullivan, Brendan Jay.
Rivington was ours : Lady Gaga, the Lower East Side, and the prime of our lives / Brendan Jay Sullivan. — First edition.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-06-212558-3 (pbk.) — ISBN 978-0-06-212559-0 (ebook)
EPUB Edition SEPTEMBER 2013 ISBN 9780062125590
1. Lady Gaga. 2. Singers—United States—Biography. I. Title. II. Title: Lady Gaga, the Lower East Side, and the prime of our lives.
ML420.L185.S85 2013
782.42164092—dc23 [B] 2013012598
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13 14 15 16 17 OV/RRD 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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