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The wburg Reader

The Editor of WBURG Picks Books for the Intrepid Williamsburger's Bookshelf

This section features a continually growing selection of books that every Williamsburger — resident, visitor, or virtual visitor — should read. Some are by Williamsburg or Brooklyn authors, some describe the area, others relate to struggles Williamsburgers face. And when you use these links to buy any of these books online through Powell's.com, you support WBURG. Through our association with Powell's, wburg.com receives a small percentage of sales generated through links on our pages. And if you have any more suggestions, especially books by Williamsburg authors that I've missed, please email me. So thanks, and happy reading.

About the new suggestions
You may have heard mentions of Here is New York by E.B. White recently. A haunting paragraph near the end was eerily prescient about the World Trade Center destruction, though E.B. White was writing in the wake of WWII. That tragic vision of our fragility notwithstanding, this is a book about the strengths of New York. E.B. White has a genius for suggesting the vitality of New York with a few sure strokes (my edition is only 56 small pages). If you only read one book this summer, make it this one.

Recently I watched a documentary about New York on PBS. When the film reached the era of Robert Moses, I couldn't bear it any more and had to turn it off. Why did he slice our neighborhood in half with the BQE (one of his many crimes)? A man who didn't even have a driver's license (he had a chauffer instead). Thank god he didn't eviscerate SoHo—although he almost did. Read the book that stopped him: The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs. A hefty tome (over 450 pages in my edition), but a lively and entertaining analysis about what makes New York (and other American cities) great—sidewalks, parks, small blocks, diversity, concentration, and more—and how people like Robert Moses can kill that greatness with car-centric planning, "cataclysmic money," huge blocks, and vacuums. A valuable lesson for all city dwellers.

Kirsten Hively is the editor and designer of wburg.com.

New Suggestions
Here is New York by E.B. White The soul of New York, then, now, and always. buy this book
The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs What's right with New York. buy this book

More Suggestions
The Chosen by Chaim Potok The 1967 classic story of the friendship between a Hasidic and a liberal Jewish boy set in 1940s Williamsburg. buy this book
Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem A detective story unlike any other, featuring an unlikely hero—Lionel Essrog, an orphan who suffers from Tourett's Syndrome. Set in current downtown Brooklyn, Greenpoint, and Manhattan. buy this book
The Brooklyn Reader edited by Andrea Wyatt Sexton A collection of thirty writers on Brooklyn. buy this book
How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They're Built by Stewart Brand This book is a must-read for anyone who cares about how and why buildings change—from gas stations to banks and everything in between. buy this book
Appendices, Illustrations & Notes by Mónica de la Torre and Terence Gower A collaboration between Williamsburg resident and WBURG contributor Mónica de la Torre and conceptual artist Terence Gower, this appendix to a fictitious book is an anthology of meaningless book marketing blurbs, reviews of dubious exhibitions, evil-spirited notes by editors rejecting manuscripts, and obsessional letters to a psychiatrist. buy this book
The Kingdom of the Subjunctive by Suzanne Wise Poems by Williamsburg resident and WBURG contributor Suzanne Wise. buy this book
It Happened in Brooklyn by Myrna Katz Frommer and Harvey Frommer An oral history of growing up in Brooklyn in the 40s, 50s, and 60s. buy this book
Some Ether by Nick Flynn Poems by former Williamsburg resident Nick Flynn. buy this book
Brooklyn Pops Up from the Brooklyn Public Library Think you're too old for pop-up books? Think again. From the Brooklyn Bridge to the Grand Army Plaza to Coney Island, a dozen illustrators such as Maurice Sendak, Robert Sabuda, Carla Dijs, and David A. Carter bring different aspects of Brooklyn to life in this wonderful book. This book is not in stock at Powells.com, but you can find it in the gift shop at the main branch of the Brooklyn Public Library.
The Brooklyn Cookbook by Lyn Stallworth and Rod Kennedy, Jr. Brooklyn food — and culinary history — from soup to nuts. Just about every Brooklyn ethnicity is represented here: Polish, Hispanic, German, Italian, Scandinavian, Jewish, African, Haitian, Irish. buy this book
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith The classic coming of age tale set right here in Williamsburg. buy this book
Wild New York by Margaret Mittlebach and Michael Crewdson All about the flora and fauna of New York City (including the trees that grow in Brooklyn) and where to find it. Includes maps and directions to bird refuges, woods, lakes, and beaches where you can find anything from horseshoe crabs to locusts. buy this book
Brooklyn Kings: New York City's Black Bikers photos by Martin Dixon, essay by Greg Tate The other kind of wild New York. This book documents predominantly African American motorcycle clubs in Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Manhattan. These black "biker gangs" — like the Jaguars, the Black Falcons, the Transit Wheelers, the Imperials, the Corpians, and the Uptown Riders — are really high-octane social clubs buy this book
The AIA Guide to New York by Elliot Willensky and Norval White The newly revised bible of New York City architecture (first published in 1967), neighborhood by neighborhood — including, of course, Williamsburg. Should be required reading for all residents. buy this book
The Rough Guide Phrasebooks Polish, Mexican Spanish, and Italian from The Rough Guide Talk to your neighbors, order lunch, or just decode store names with these great phrasebooks. Polish: buy this book
The Rough Guide Phrasebooks Mexican Spanish buy this book
The Rough Guide Phrasebooks Italian buy this book
Say It In Yiddish by Uriel Weinreich and Beatrice Weinreich A complete Yiddish phrase book and word list, with a pronunciation guide. buy this book

a small percentage of books bought through the links on this page will go to support WBURG

the Williamsburg quarterly — putting the arts in context in Williamsburg, Brooklyn