In Close to the Knives, David Wojnarowicz gives us an important and timely document: a collection of creative essays ? a scathing, sexy, sublimely humourous and honest personal testimony. From the author's violent childhood in suburbia to eventual homelessness on the streets and piers of New York City, to recognition as one of the most provocative artists of his generation - Close to the Knives is his powerful and iconoclastic memoir.