Author Rick Moody appeared at the Franklin Park Reading series and read from his novel The Four Fingers of Death. Moody described the novel, narrated by one Montese Crandall, to the Washington Post as “a 900-page comic novel about a disembodied arm set in the desert in 2026.” Put off? Listen in here and find out where the narrator’s name originated.
November 30, 2010 Boroughing, Classic, Local/Readings, Video
The following clips – it’s a long story, there are two – feature Jennifer Egan reading from her latest novel A Visit from the Goon Squad.
November 8, 2010 Boroughing, Classic, Local/Readings, The Read, Video
Shelly Oria reads “Fully Zipped” live in Crown Heights. Shelly’s fiction has appeared in McSweeney’s, Quarterly West, cream city review, and fivechapters among other places and she curates the series Sweet! Actors Reading Writers in Manhattan.
November 2, 2010 Authors Speak, Guest Author, Local/Readings, Multi/Media, Video
This year’s 5th annual Book Festival at Borough Hall was a hit once again, despite the rainy weather, and we were fortunate enough to catch a lot of great authors. Watch our video for a taste of the fest.
September 13, 2010 Authors Speak, Digital/Read, Local/Readings, Multi/Media, Read Features, The Locals, The Read, Video
Aryn Kyle tells a great story about what it’s like to date another writer, especially around these parts. Aryn was born in Peoria, Illinois, and grew up in Grand Junction, Colorado. Her debut novel, The God of Animals (Scribner, 2007) was an international bestseller.
August 16, 2010 Classic, Local/Readings, Video
Jon Friedman is a writer, comedian and producer living in Brooklyn and currently writing and blogging for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon for which he won an Emmy. Watch as he shares rejected Late Night jokes with the crowd, and addresses a letter to his upcoming blind date.
August 11, 2010 Authors Speak, Classic, Local/Readings, Multi/Media, The Read, Video
Local educator Zetta Elliot admitted early in her presentation at Franklin Park that she isn’t quite accustomed to late night readings at bars – usually she is presenting her work earlier in the day as an educator, in schools and libraries. However, she persevered and read an eloquent excerpt from her novel A Wish After Midnight (above), the tale of a young woman in Brooklyn transported back in time to the Civil War era. Ms. Elliot is a poet, essayist, playwright and the author of children’s books and is currently writing a sequel to A Wish After Midnight.
July 21, 2010 Authors Speak, Classic, Local/Readings, Multi/Media, Video
Matt Gallagher, author of Kaboom, joined the U.S. Army in 2005 and received a commission in the armored cavalry. Following a fifteen-month deployment in Iraq, Gallagher left the army in 2009. Originally from Reno, Nevada, he now lives in New York City, and was recently a featured reader at the Franklin Park Reading Series.
June 30, 2010 Classic, Local/Readings, Multi/Media, Video
Rakesh Satyal, friend of BrooklynTheBorough.com and author of the novel Blue Boy (Kensington, 2009), recently won the Gay Debut Fiction Award at the 22nd Annual Lambda Literary Awards. Upon being presented with the award, he broken into song – something that he’s well known for doing – and this time he caught the attention of the New Yorker. We caught up with the Fort Greene-based author about the award, his speech and what’s in store for a potential second, musical career path.
June 24, 2010 Authors Speak, Classic, Local/Readings, Queer News, Read Features, Video
Writer Heather Kristin reads a story only a native could tell, live in Crown Heights in 2010. Besides being a native of this fair city, Heather is a memoirist, novelist, playwright, violinist, composer, ex-actress, former subway performer, and mom.
June 2, 2010 Authors Speak, Classic, Local/Readings, Multi/Media, The Read, Video
Author David Goodwillie reads from his novel American Subversive at the Franklin Park Reading Series in Crown Heights.
May 11, 2010 Authors Speak, Boroughing, Classic, Local/Readings, Multi/Media, The Read, Video
Storyteller Ryan Britt at the Franklin Park Reading Series on April 12, 2010.
April 21, 2010 Authors Speak, Boroughing, Local/Readings, Multi/Media, The Read, Video
In the video enclosed author Mary Gaitskill reads “The Astral Plane Nail and Waxing Salon” at the Franklin Park Reading Series in Crown Heights. This fictional story about Ashley Dupre and Silda Wall, Elliot Spitzer’s tryst and wife respectively, originally appeared in New York Magazine last fall and deals – intensely – with the dichotomy of Eve and Lilith. The tale features cameos by Elizabeth and John Edwards, Rielle Hunter, Bill and Hillary Clinton and Monica Lewinsky. It’s a long one – three parts – but we’re sure you’ll enjoy the ride.
April 15, 2010 Authors Speak, Boroughing, Classic, Local/Readings, Multi/Media, The Read, VideoStephen Elliott, author of Happy Baby and The Adderall Diaries, reads at the Franklin Park Reading Series in Brooklyn.
April 1, 2010 Authors Speak, Boroughing, Classic, Local/Readings, Multi/Media, The Read, Video
Victor LaValle is the author of a short-story collection, Slapboxing with Jesus and two novels, The Ecstatic and Big Machine and writes fiction primarily and book reviews for GQ, Essence Magazine, The Fader, and the Washington Post. Here, he reads a short story called Debt.
March 22, 2010 Authors Speak, Boroughing, Classic, Local/Readings, Multi/Media, The Read, Video
The unofficial present-day Bard of Brooklyn stopped by Greenlight Bookstore last night to christen the borough’s newest independent bookshop. Jonathan Lethem, author of such notable Brooklyn titles as Motherless Brooklyn and Fortress of Solitude, read a portion of his new Manhattan-based novel, Chronic City, to a packed house as latecomers squeezed through the door like rush-hour riders on the 4 train. Watch our exclusive video from the event after the jump.
November 6, 2009 Authors Speak, Boroughing, Classic, Local/Readings, Multi/Media, The Read, Video
The description for the Independent Media Voices panel at the Brooklyn Book Festival was slightly more in depth than the subsequent discussion between Amy Goodman (host, Democracy Now!), Pamela Newkirk (author of Letters From Black America), and Richard Nash (publisher, Soft Skull Press), moderated by Dennis Loy Johnson (publisher, Melville House Press). Though the speakers were a little bit disjointed after a last minute change that replaced zine guru Jessica Hopper with Mr. Nash, Ms. Goodman stayed on her point that the corporate media is in bed with war profiteers. Video after the jump.
September 14, 2009 Boroughing, Classic, Local/Readings, Multi/Media, Read Features, The Read, Video
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