Customer Reviews

Brooklyn: A State of Mind

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BROOKLYN: A STATE OF MIND, edited by Michael Robbins, is a treat for anyone who wonders about the place they always hear about in movies and t.v. or who was born and raised in the greatest borough of the greatest city on Earth (ahem). In spite of the gimmicky subtitle, this collection of essays and stories, photos and cartoons, film scripts and stills, is as informative, inspiring, stunning, human, and a little bit scary as the place itself. Some of my favorite pieces are:

1) David McCullough's "Harry Truman: Live and In Color in Brooklyn". (I'm a sucker for anything by McCullough, anyway.)

2) Glenn Thrush's "The Mistake of '98". In 1898, when Manhattan (which was New York City back then) incorporated the surrounding four boroughs to create Greater New York City, everyone thought it was a fantastic idea--everyone, except for Brooklynites, that is. Brooklyn, which at the time was the third or fourth largest city in the U.S., really didn't want to be associated with the dirty, corrupt and immigrant-filled island on the other side of the Brooklyn Bridge. (Brooklyn wanted to be its own dirty, corrupt and immigrant filled place.) Thrush's piece is a fascinating look at the events leading up to and years after the consolidation.

3)Jon Gartenberg's "Brooklyn on Film: The Guy from Brooklyn in World War II". I had always remembered watching old WWII movies and, sure enough, there was always the Brooklyn guy. Even in SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, the character, Reiben (sp?), is from King's County and wears a Brooklyn bomber jacket. Gartenberg explains why this staple became so common in this movie genre.

Lastly, the photos, some of the best are by Stanley Greenberg and Genevieve Naylor, provided some breathing room around the enormous amount of text. I also recommend Andrea Watt Sexton and Alice Leccese Power's BROOKLYN READER.

BROOKLYN: A STATE OF MIND is one of the best books about the greatest place on the planet. Got a problem wid dat?

Rocco Dormarunno

short crisp stories about brooklyn
plenty of variety to appeal to pretty much anyone about all sorts of brooklyn related stuff
highly enjoyable

I grew up in Brooklyn in the 50s/60s. I now live in Los Angeles but I still miss the old neighborhoods. The stories in this book bring me right back. It's a great read for people who want to reminisce or for someone who would like to get a taste of life in a time of innocence in a place of unparalleled sense of community.

This is a scrapbook of the world's greatest city from the end of WW II to about the beginnings of television. It's necessarily sentimental because almost everyone who contributed to the volume doesn't live there any more. They (we) did our best and went elsewhere and although we may have succeeded because of the place we came from, most of had to leave to be who we are.

So this is a sentimental tribute to the old country. The photographs are wonderful-that is, they tell the truth as I remember it and some of the essays are great.

This is another bedside, bathroom, waiting room book best sampled in small doses and savored.

Lynn Hoffman, Brooklyn Tech '61 and author of New Short Course in Wine,The and the Brooklynesque bang BANG: A Novel

BROOKLYN: A STATE OF MIND, edited by Michael Robbins, is a treat for anyone who wonders about the place they always hear about in movies and t.v. or who was born and raised in the greatest borough of the greatest city on Earth (ahem). In spite of the gimmicky subtitle, this collection of essays and stories, photos and cartoons, film scripts and stills, is as informative, inspiring, stunning, human, and a little bit scary as the place itself. Some of my favorite pieces are:

1) David McCullough's "Harry Truman: Live and In Color in Brooklyn". (I'm a sucker for anything by McCullough, anyway.)

2) Glenn Thrush's "The Mistake of '98". In 1898, when Manhattan (which was New York City back then) incorporated the surrounding four boroughs to create Greater New York City, everyone thought it was a fantastic idea--everyone, except for Brooklynites, that is. Brooklyn, which at the time was the third or fourth largest city in the U.S., really didn't want to be associated with the dirty, corrupt and immigrant-filled island on the other side of the Brooklyn Bridge. (Brooklyn wanted to be its own dirty, corrupt and immigrant filled place.) Thrush's piece is a fascinating look at the events leading up to and years after the consolidation.

3)Jon Gartenberg's "Brooklyn on Film: The Guy from Brooklyn in World War II". I had always remembered watching old WWII movies and, sure enough, there was always the Brooklyn guy. Even in SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, the character, Reiben (sp?), is from King's County and wears a Brooklyn bomber jacket. Gartenberg explains why this staple became so common in this movie genre.

Lastly, the photos, some of the best are by Stanley Greenberg and Genevieve Naylor, provided some breathing room around the enormous amount of text. BROOKLYN: A STATE OF MIND is one of the best books about the greatest place on the planet. Got a problem wid dat?

Rocco Dormarunno, author of The Five Points

the most enjoyable book i have found to bring back the days of growing up in the wonderful, diverse city of Brooklyn. i keep 5 copies on hand and give them out to people i meet of my generation frim Brooklyn.

I bought this book for my boyfriend after borrowing it several times at the library for him. After his disappointment that someone had ripped out several pages, I decided he needed to have his own copy since he really enjoyed reading it. He is one of Brooklyn's proudest sons and this was the perfect gift for him and anyone who thinks Brooklyn is the greatest place on earth!

125 stories packed with interest. If Chicago is the city of big shoulders, we learn, Brooklyn is the city of big mouths. Mel Brooks growing up in Williamsburg. Coney Island weirdness. Neighborhoods decline and are reborn. The world's handball champ. Blacks, Jews, Italians. Park Slope, Bed Stuy, bensonhurst, Flatbush, Midwood, Gravesend. A black themed B&B in a Victorian mansion. Comedians, musicians, crooks, athletes , writers all tell their stories. Rivoting.

Great packaging, index, photos.