I am glad I am alive to witness these things; giving words to this life of sensations is a relief Smell the flowers while you can Close to the Knives is the artist writer & activist David Wojnarowicz&s extraordinary memoir Filthy beautiful & sharp to the point of piercing it is both an exploration of the world seen through the eyes of an artist & a moving portrait of a generation living grieving & dying through the AIDS crisis It is a triumphant hymn of resistance & a dizzying celebration of the joys of seeing & living in the world