Richard Hell: Hell Is Other People

IN HOT And Cold, Richard Hell's new collection of three decades of writing, there's a photo of a young obscure poet called Theresa Stern. She looks pretty cool. Big haired, full lipped and glammy, like a New York Doll gargling mouthwash in Andy Warhol's boudoir. Classic Lower East side gutter chic. She writes a mean line too: "I loved him so much / but I accidentally dropped an electric toothbrush / into my cunt / and fried his Johnson" ('Stars I Was', 1973).