Benedict Giamo - On the bowery: confronting homelessness in American society

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title	:	On the Bowery : Confronting Homelessness in American Society
author	:	Giamo, Benedict.
publisher	:	University of Iowa Press
isbn10 | asin	:	0877452431
print isbn13	:	9780877452430
ebook isbn13	:	9781587290800
language	:	English
subject	Homelessness--United States.
publication date	:	1989
lcc	:	HV4505.G48 1989eb
ddc	:	362.5/0973
subject	:	Homelessness--United States.

Page iii On the Bowery Confronting Homelessness in American Society Benedict Giamo University of Iowa Press Iowa City

Page iv University of Iowa Press, Iowa City 52242 Copyright 1989 by the University of Iowa All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America First edition, 1989 Design by Richard Hendel No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, without permission in writing from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Giamo, Benedict. On the bowery: confronting homelessness in American society/by Benedict Giamo.1st ed. p. cm. Bibliography: p. Includes index. ISBN 0-87745-243-1 1. HomelessnessUnited States. I. Title. HV4505.G48 1989 89-32099 362.5'0973dc20 CIP

Page v To the Bowery men, who let me in, to Iris, who led me out, and to my two young sons, Crane and Christopher, whose wondrous development continues to mystify me.

Page vii Contents Acknowledgments ix Preface xi Chapter 1 / Background Circumference 1 Chapter 2 / Mystification 31 Chapter 3 / Descent and Discovery 85 Chapter 4 / Bowery Tales 129 Conclusion 171 Appendix / Ethnography, a Retrospective 211 Notes 221 Selected Bibliography 251 Index 263

Page ix Acknowledgments Even though this quest was initiated as a venture into the great unknown, and even though the discoveries surfaced from a faith in the processes of descent and recovery, I could not have endured the solitude of the vision and its long pursuit without the generous guidance and sustenance offered by friends and colleagues. Without Peter Dowell's close reading of the manuscript and talent for reintroducing me to the deep structure of the text, I might not have found my way at all; for his keen understanding and insightful comments, I am profoundly grateful. Both Robert Paul and Robert Wheeler proved invaluable in helping to round out the interdisciplinary perspective of this study in the early stages of its broadened reformulation. I am highly appreciative of the time spent with Kenneth Burke during his winter visits to Emory University. Simply put, K.B. was more than a distinct influence; he inspired me to conduct this work with rigor, risk, and sheer enjoyment along with the intellectual predilection for "countergridlock." To Arthur Evans I would like to extend my gratitude for teaching me the importance of patience and promise. My indebtedness to Jeffrey Grunberg is long-standing and deep; for his vital partnership during the Bowery fieldwork and close friendship throughout the years I am extremely grateful. I would also like to thank Chaya Piotrkowski and Rayna Rapp for helping to launch this quest. This study was originally designed as a dissertation and later altered into book form. Much of the writing of this project during the dissertation stage was supported in various and helpful ways. I would like to thank Helena Welch for her unquestioning support, which made it possible to get situated and continue the journey. To Ronald Welch for his generous financial support I owe more than I can give in return. I am grateful to the Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts, Emory University, for assistance that helped me to begin the writing portion of the project. To the Scholarships Foundation, Inc., I am also grateful for the continued financial support provided. For her patient and skillful aid in typing the manuscript (in its dissertation and book-length forms), I would like to thank Beryl Glover. And, finally, to my parents, Nathan and Marie, I am thankful for simply reminding me just where I had begun.

Page xi Preface If the social and cultural reality of the Bowery is best apprehended as a question to be answered, then it could be said that I went off in search of such a discovery. Initially, this quest took the form of an extended ethnographic encounter with the homeless men on the contemporary Bowery. (See the appendix for an account of the ethnographic method and process. The reader may benefit by reviewing this account after reading the preface.) In going out to meet the "other" within (in this case the "other" resided on native grounds), I was soon drawn downward into the deep structure of American society and culture. Perhaps that popular duet, down and out, is relevant here, for the journey down into the subculture of Bowery homelessness also entailed a journey out of social innocence. To go to the depths of the Bowery is to confront its grotesque reality, its radical departure from the accustomed realm of social structure, its vibrant humanistic energy, and its creative forms. The thematic patterns, social processes, existential categories, and structure of feeling and meaning which surfaced from my fieldwork on the Bowery both satisfied and disturbed my sense of discovery. I had collected a wealth of data from my encounters with the men and learned a great deal concerning their related processes of internal integration into the subculture and external adaptation to the larger society by which they were bound. Yet at this time my epistemological scouts, as I refer to the men, were also leading me to a nascent level of awareness which involved the dynamic relationship between competing cultural and subcultural systems of meaning, belief, and social action.

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