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April 24, 2008
Brooklyn Books It
There are people in Brooklyn who write books, according to an article in this week's Observer, a phenomenon that has resulted in a "literary community." The piece, which is actually thoughtful, includes a "somewhat arbitrary" "Brooklyn Literary 100" broken down by neighborhood. According to the list, the most literary neighborhood is the Slope, which boasts 20 writers/editors/assorted other literary types, followed by Fort Greene (19 bookish folks named, including Jhumpa Lahiri, Jennifer Egan and Colson Whitehead), and Boerum Hill, where 13 men/women of letters, including Jonathan Lethem, reside. We find it ironic that the most literary neighborhood in Brooklyn, by this account, is also the one that's seen the shuttering of two independent bookstores over the past year.
The Brooklyn Literary 100 [NY Observer]
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Comments
Oh my god - I have to say this is the most arbitrary selection of literary personae. If you're going to include as "literary" editors of Vogue and freelancers for Slate, you can at least triple this list. In any case, my money's on Prospect Heights since one of my favorite writers, George Packer, is there.
Posted by: guest at April 24, 2008 11:23 AM
agree with 11:23, must be a slow newsday
Posted by: guest at April 24, 2008 11:31 AM
If the focus is only on the big famous published writers then this is actually a list of most wealthy neighborhoods in Brooklyn. Not most literary. The neighborhoods with the famous writers are the ones now attracting more bankers and lawyers than newly emerging writers and artists.
Posted by: guest at April 24, 2008 11:50 AM
The writer of that story is an ex-Gawker editor, so beyond the obviously very famous writers who must be there, this article gives bloggers and magazine people extra weight.
Posted by: guest at April 24, 2008 12:10 PM
"The piece, which is actually thoughtful" -- That is funny coming from Gabby, who has yet to pen a 'thoughtful' piece of her own to date... glad she at least has the wherewithal to be condescending. You go, Girl!
Posted by: guest at April 24, 2008 12:34 PM
Actually Gabby it's way more than two. I'm a literary professional who lived in the Slope before B&N and there have been three that closed in the wake of their arrival (one that shuttered before the B&N even opened becuase it was essentially across the street). 20 writers and random literary types in a neighborhood are not going to keep a bookstore afloat. It's the rest of the 1000s of people who live there who choose to shop at a giant chain store over the indies that are really having the effect. And I agree with 11:50, the Slope is way less literary/bohemian now than it was 15-20 years ago. You have white collar types moving in now, not the creative class. And most of the writers who live there have for a very long time.
Posted by: guest at April 24, 2008 12:39 PM
"literary professional" has to be one of the vaguest terms for identifying what you do for a living. congrats, though, on not being "white collar." yeah, right.
Posted by: guest at April 24, 2008 12:46 PM
Ok, 12:39, here again, and how about this: I'm an senior editor at a major literary publishing house. And anyone who knows anything about the salaries in publishing and the advances that the lion's share of authors get will tell you that white collar professions like, say, lawyers, doctors, and bankers, make at least three times what the average person working in publishing does. It is not a profession known to be particularly lucrative. But 12:46 your language seems to indicate that somehow you know better--what's your connection to publishing?
Posted by: guest at April 24, 2008 12:51 PM
Ok, 12:39, here again, and how about this: I'm a senior editor at a major literary publishing house. And anyone who knows anything about the salaries in publishing and the advances that the lion's share of authors get will tell you that white collar professions like, say, lawyers, doctors, and bankers, make at least three times what the average person working in publishing does. It is not a profession known to be particularly lucrative. But 12:46 your language seems to indicate that somehow you know better--what's your connection to publishing?
Posted by: guest at April 24, 2008 12:52 PM
12:52 Do you write the same article 3X. Then be patient grasshopper and it will appear.
Posted by: guest at April 24, 2008 1:04 PM
yawn, more "class warfare" ... this time:
doctors vs. senior editors at major literary publishing houses
Round 1
Editor hits Doctor with a conceited jab and a self-righteous left hook.
Doctor slices through Editor's mock-Daniel-Libeskind-glasses with scalpel and severs jugular.
Posted by: guest at April 24, 2008 1:05 PM
I know of at least two other published authors in Ft. Greene not on that list.
Posted by: guest at April 24, 2008 1:08 PM
I can name at least 4 more people in Cobble Hill/Carroll Gardens alone - one of whom is the head of one of the most renowned literary agencies in NY and happens to be married to a well-reviewed author, memoirist and travel/food writer. Two magazine editors spring to mind as well -- also married. Maybe CG/CH is where the marrieds live.
Posted by: guest at April 24, 2008 1:26 PM
The two bookstores on 7th Ave in the Slope that closed recently were mostly used bookstores. The Internet has made it very hard to run a used bookstore these days, cuz whatever you are looking for, you are more likely to find it on the net than schlepping around looking in stores. I did grab a book worth $200 for $7 in one of those stores tho...
Also since Slopers claim to be intellects and not collectors, (according to the store owners) they had way to many paperbacks and not enuf hardcovers to appeal to those who buy books for a personal library.
There's another store on 7th that has survived B&N, altho they haven't prospered, I heard.
The indie vs. chain thing doesn't really hold here. It's not like Starbucks, where an indie coffee shop can provide you the same java. Bookselling is an inventory game; the more space and inventory you have, the more likely it will be that I'll find what I am looking for. Coupla of the independents didn't get that when they decided to add a cafe to compete.
B&N is not immune to high rents either; in the last year they closed Astor Place and Chelsea (while opening in TriBeca).
BTW I thought Foer paid 6.5mil for that house, not 3.5 mil (?)
Posted by: denton at April 24, 2008 3:48 PM
Yeh, this is hilarious. Noses are gonna be out of joint big time. I mean, where's Cobble Hill res Jonathan Galassi (head of Farrar, Straus, and Giroux)? For everyone included, there's at least 5 prominent types left out.
Posted by: guest at April 24, 2008 3:50 PM
(A) Including agents on this list is lame.
(B) Where is Susanna Moore? She's major and she lives on Clinton Avenue, according to the NY Times. Come on, people!
(C) Their list of literary locations is Whitey McWhiterson. Brownstone Books on Lewis Ave. in Bed-Stuy is everything that an independent bookstore should be.
Posted by: guest at April 24, 2008 5:06 PM
The Observer needs to fact-check.
Lara Vapnyar certainly doesn't live in Brighton Beach. Oh, but wait - she's Russian, so she MUST live in Brighton Beach, right? Dorks.
Posted by: guest at April 24, 2008 5:50 PM
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