Evidence from Thin Air?

For the second essay, I chose to write about Luc Sante’s Low Life. It was one of the only non-poem pieces and I thought that it took an incredibly new perspective on New York City. Because this piece was a preface, its job was to summarize the rest of the book with clarity. I’m not sure if that should make it more difficult or easy for me to dissect his words, because it appears to me like there might not be a hidden message behind them.

In half of my essay, I reiterated a lot of what Sante wrote. Though I did not summarize, I furthered his point about fear of the past. I looked to find fear in things that seemed comfortable (like somebody’s childhood). In the latter part of my essay, I turned my attention to how the future was even gloomier than the past. Sante never flat out states that people are afraid of tomorrow. He makes it explicit that New York City, on the face, is a city of progress but he doesn’t really delve inside the city’s interior to show that progress is just an illusion. I do that part for him, using some of the small details from his text. My biggest concern is that he never intended to describe fear of the future. I wonder if I am making this idea up or if I actually have good evidence for it.