Brooklyn Owes The Charmer Under Me
Jan. 15th, 2006 11:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
topazI just want to make sure everyone understands that I was proud to be from Brooklyn before Jonathan Lethem made it cool. Got it? Okay. Thanks.
Speaking of Jonathan Lethem, I should thank![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
dr_memory for making sure I read Fortress of Solitude. Lethem grew up in Cobble Hill a few blocks from where I lived. (Indeed, my mother knew his parents, at least in passing.) This book, without a doubt, captures the experience of growing up in Brooklyn in the 1970s better than anything else I have read. Reading it on an icy subway car in Cambridge last February, I could almost smell the heat coming up from the asphalt on Pacific Street in August. It was just that close.
As a book, though, I have to say that it overreached a lot. It made me want to go back and reread Motherless Brooklyn, one of the best books I have read in years. It still brings me up short of breath just to think of some of the writing. (annaoj, did you ever get around to reading this one? Do I need to send you a copy?) The rumors are apparently true that he sold the film rights for Motherless Brooklyn to Edward Norton. I absolutely can't wait to see how that turns out.
Speaking of Jonathan Lethem, I should thank
dr_memory for making sure I read Fortress of Solitude. Lethem grew up in Cobble Hill a few blocks from where I lived. (Indeed, my mother knew his parents, at least in passing.) This book, without a doubt, captures the experience of growing up in Brooklyn in the 1970s better than anything else I have read. Reading it on an icy subway car in Cambridge last February, I could almost smell the heat coming up from the asphalt on Pacific Street in August. It was just that close.As a book, though, I have to say that it overreached a lot. It made me want to go back and reread Motherless Brooklyn, one of the best books I have read in years. It still brings me up short of breath just to think of some of the writing. (
annaoj, did you ever get around to reading this one? Do I need to send you a copy?) The rumors are apparently true that he sold the film rights for Motherless Brooklyn to Edward Norton. I absolutely can't wait to see how that turns out.
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Date: 2006-01-16 04:59 am (UTC)Yeah, Lethem is a fucking treasure.
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Date: 2006-01-16 02:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-16 04:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-17 07:37 pm (UTC)I'm listening to "The Disappointment Artist" right now; if you haven't experienced it you might look into it since there are a number of growing up in Brooklyn-type essays in there.
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Date: 2006-02-02 10:19 pm (UTC)