Cookie Mueller (1949-1989) was a firecracker, a cult figure, a wild child, a

writer, a gogo dancer, a mother and a queer icon. A child of suburban 1950s

Maryland, she made her name first as an actress in the films of John Waters, and

then as an art critic and columnist, a writer of hilarious stories and a maven

of New York's downtown art world. Edgewise tells the story of Cookie's life

through an oral history composed of more than 80 interviews with the people who

knew her, including John Waters, Mink Stole, Gary Indiana, Sharon Niesp, Max

Mueller, Linda Yablonsky, Richard Hell, Amos Poe and Raymond Foye. The

contributors take us from the late-1960s artist communes of Baltimore to 1970s

Provincetown and New York, through 1980s Berlin and Positano. Along with the

text, Edgewise includes artwork, unpublished photographs and archival material

and photography by Philip-Lorca diCorcia, David Armstrong, Robert Mapplethorpe,

Peter Hujar and others.

Since her death from AIDS in 1989, Cookie's work and life have made her an

underground icon. Her original texts, first published by Hanuman Books and

Semiotext(e), have been

reprinted by Serpent's Tail, and she is remembered for her appearances in the No

Wave films and theater of Amos Poe, Michel Auder, Gary Indiana and others.

Along with the text, Edgewise consists of original artwork, unpublished

photographs and archival material, and photo contributions by Philip-Lorca

DiCorcia, David Armstrong, Robert Mapplethorpe, Peter Hujar and others.

Edgewise is a meditation on memory and story-telling.