
My Young Life
Frederic Tuten
Novelist, essayist, and critic Frederic Tuten recalls his personal and artistic coming-of-age in 1950s New York, a defining period that would set him on the course to becoming a writer.
Born in the Bronx to a Sicilian mother and Southern father, Frederic Tuten always dreamed of being an artist. Determined to trade his neighborhood streets for the romantic avenues of Paris, he learned to paint and draw, falling in love with the process of putting a brush to canvas and the feeling it gave him. At fifteen, he decided to leave high school and pursue the bohemian life he’d read about in books, a life of salons and cafes and “worldly women” from whom he could learn and grow. But, before he could, he would receive an extraordinary education, right in his own backyard.
My Young Life is the story of those early formative years where, in the halls of Christopher Columbus High School and later the City College of New York, Frederic would discover the kind of life he wanted to lead. As Tuten travels downtown for classes at the Art Students League, spends afternoons reading in Union Square, and discovers the vibrant scenes of downtown galleries and Lower East Side bars, he finds himself a member of a new community of artists, gathering friends, influences—and many girlfriends—along the way.
Frederic Tuten has had a remarkable life, writing books, traveling around the world, acting in and creating films, and even conducting summer workshops with Paul Bowles in Tangiers. Spanning two decades and bringing us from his family’s kitchen table in the Bronx and the cafés of Greenwich Village and back again, My Young Life is an intimate and enchanting portrait of an artist’s coming-of-age, set against one of the most exciting creative periods of our time.
Duration - 9h 15m.
Author - Frederic Tuten.
Narrator - Donald Corren.
Published Date - Wednesday, 21 January 2026.
Copyright - © 2019 Frederic Tuten ©.
Location:
United States
Description:
Novelist, essayist, and critic Frederic Tuten recalls his personal and artistic coming-of-age in 1950s New York, a defining period that would set him on the course to becoming a writer. Born in the Bronx to a Sicilian mother and Southern father, Frederic Tuten always dreamed of being an artist. Determined to trade his neighborhood streets for the romantic avenues of Paris, he learned to paint and draw, falling in love with the process of putting a brush to canvas and the feeling it gave him. At fifteen, he decided to leave high school and pursue the bohemian life he’d read about in books, a life of salons and cafes and “worldly women” from whom he could learn and grow. But, before he could, he would receive an extraordinary education, right in his own backyard. My Young Life is the story of those early formative years where, in the halls of Christopher Columbus High School and later the City College of New York, Frederic would discover the kind of life he wanted to lead. As Tuten travels downtown for classes at the Art Students League, spends afternoons reading in Union Square, and discovers the vibrant scenes of downtown galleries and Lower East Side bars, he finds himself a member of a new community of artists, gathering friends, influences—and many girlfriends—along the way. Frederic Tuten has had a remarkable life, writing books, traveling around the world, acting in and creating films, and even conducting summer workshops with Paul Bowles in Tangiers. Spanning two decades and bringing us from his family’s kitchen table in the Bronx and the cafés of Greenwich Village and back again, My Young Life is an intimate and enchanting portrait of an artist’s coming-of-age, set against one of the most exciting creative periods of our time. Duration - 9h 15m. Author - Frederic Tuten. Narrator - Donald Corren. Published Date - Wednesday, 21 January 2026. Copyright - © 2019 Frederic Tuten ©.
Language:
English
Opening Credits
Duration:00:00:25
Rex's Visit. The Race
Duration:00:15:55
Illness. Houses Without Windows
Duration:00:13:10
First Love and Icarus
Duration:00:08:44
Earning My Keep
Duration:00:02:37
Aerograms. Romeo and Juliet
Duration:00:07:11
The Last Radio
Duration:00:10:42
Paint Tubes and an Easel
Duration:00:05:54
Tight Pink Sweaters
Duration:00:03:30
Louie's Luncheonette
Duration:00:10:17
A Powder-Blue Sweater
Duration:00:02:56
The Artist at Work
Duration:00:08:45
First Review. Picasso Unmasked
Duration:00:02:55
The Seduction of a Green Cover
Duration:00:08:07
Dancing Daffodils
Duration:00:11:45
Blindness
Duration:00:01:29
The Bracelet
Duration:00:04:27
Bad News
Duration:00:02:05
The Paradise Movie House
Duration:00:02:07
Coffeepots and Apples
Duration:00:04:49
Ideal Forms
Duration:00:11:04
My Mother's Books
Duration:00:13:26
Rimbaud in the Kitchen
Duration:00:11:24
Trash Cans and Kafka
Duration:00:12:39
Crime and Punishmen
Duration:00:02:18
African Masks and a Lesson
Duration:00:07:50
Tattoos
Duration:00:03:48
Molly
Duration:00:05:46
Tables and Whales
Duration:00:01:36
Post Office or College
Duration:00:02:04
The Letter
Duration:00:03:25
Overcoats and Penmanship
Duration:00:09:08
Mexican Murals and Exile
Duration:00:09:52
Prison Walls and a Memoir
Duration:00:22:49
Leonard and Belinda
Duration:00:11:10
Cocktail Party by the Hudson
Duration:00:07:55
Soft Porn and Unfinished Novels
Duration:00:12:35
Office Crushes. New Chance
Duration:00:08:34
Art Deco Eden
Duration:00:01:43
Diana
Duration:00:11:47
Mexican Skies and Dark Cantinas
Duration:00:08:31
Ice Cubes and Caviar
Duration:00:13:40
Adios, Muchachos y Companeros de Mi Vida
Duration:00:02:08
On the Road
Duration:00:06:42
Before the Bar with Dignity
Duration:00:07:38
The Intellectual at Large
Duration:00:09:11
Lord Byron and Smoke Rings over Broadway
Duration:00:09:34
Vodka, Bread, and Pickles
Duration:00:07:17
Banishment
Duration:00:03:33
Fame
Duration:00:06:25
Jack
Duration:00:05:07
Love in the Mountains
Duration:00:08:24
Ernest
Duration:00:20:25
The Eiffel Tower and the Tundra
Duration:00:08:50
The Owl and the Bookworm
Duration:00:07:39
Perfume and Work Boots
Duration:00:02:37
Rebecca and Sandra
Duration:00:12:21
Ulysses and Riding Crops
Duration:00:08:45
Waterfalls and Rubbers
Duration:00:04:24
Gutted Hares and the Library
Duration:00:17:00
Sliced Tomatoes and High Fever
Duration:00:15:46
Rebecca
Duration:00:04:43
Kim's Laundry
Duration:00:10:13
Rodin and Vagabonds
Duration:00:07:55
Expensive Watches and Martin Eden
Duration:00:05:06
Simona
Duration:00:05:14
Sandra and Baby Ice Cubes
Duration:00:06:28
The Interview
Duration:00:07:23
Simona. The Sociology of Flirtation
Duration:00:11:10
Tugboats and Clouds
Duration:00:12:20