Tales of Times Squar

Concentrating on the period from 1978 to 1984, which he labels the ""golden age of pornography'' in mid-Manhattan, Friedman has drawn a vivid picture of the Times Square area and its denizens. He writes about the porn palaces with live sex shows, and the men and women who perform in them, prostitutes and their pimps, the runaways who will likely be the next decade's prostitutes, the clergymen who fight the smut merchants and the cops who feel impotent in the face of the judiciary. We are shown a depressing picture of sexually obsessed individuals seeking instant gratification again and again. But there are also delightful interviews with old-timers in the area, now mostly in their 70s or late 60s, who offer reminiscences of Times Square in its heyday. Friedman (Any Similarity to Persons Living or Dead Is Purely Coincidental also discusses the proposed reclamation of Times Square, about which he demonstrates mixed attitudes. (July 11)