You’ve read everything by Jennifer Egan, Colson Whitehead (you call him “Cole”) and the Jonathans, and you’re even Facebook friends with Jonathan Ames. If you secretly believe you’re the +1 in n +1, we’ve got the next read for your McCarren Park beach towel. Literary Brooklyn is Evan Hughes’ new chronicle of the borough’s bookish icons, from rapscallions like Walt Whitman (the borough’s “first literary hipster”) and Henry Miller to Jhumpa Lahiri and her contemporaries. Unlike dutiful history books that guilt you from the shelf, this one really zips along. And we have three copies to give away to randomly chosen commenters on this post. Tell us your favorite Brooklyn book ever and why in the comments and you could win one of them. Also, Mr Hughes is being feted Tuesday night (August 16) from 7 to 9 at PowerHouse Arena, and everyone’s invited to hear him read and have a drink or two. (Go easy Brokertons). By the way, here’s a completely unrelated but nevertheless fun map of literary Brooklyn from the BPL.
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Me me me!
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn! so interesting to read about my neighborhood 100 years ago
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn!
Jay-Z's Decoded.
The Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster. Funny & touching. Perfectly captures the essence of the borough.
"Snow In August" by Pete Hamill. When I first met him, I told him it was my favorite of his books, and he told me it was his favorite, too -- but also his least-read. It a magical vision of 1940s Brooklyn through the eyes of an 11 year old boy.
Having grown up here, there's many authors I feel a connection to, but I've got a soft spot for Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes. His writing style is both casual and lush, and I found myself genuinely feeling for him and his family. I wish that there were other books that so profoundly changed my views of the life that I live. Probably my favorite memoir, period.
Motherless Brooklyn remains my favorite. Probably because I lived in the neighborhood at the time.
My Korean Deli. What a great snapshot of a neighborhood in flux as seen through the windows of your average corner shop (that is still standing today!). Brooklyn, in a nutshell.
And its still before noon in Hawaii!
The nifty random.org number randomizer has selected commenters Tiffany Gilbert, Laurie Mincielli and Sara Brainard. Congrats and and thanks for entering. Please send your mailing addresses to faye@brokelyn.com and I'll send you a book!