The Body of Brooklyn

by David Lazar

In The Body of Brooklyn David Lazar, an acclaimed essayist and prose stylist, offers a vividly detailed, hilarious, and touching recollection of his Brooklyn upbringing in the 1960s and 70s. His immigrant Jewish heritage and his bodily history--from the travails of childhood obesity to the sexual triumphs of post-adolescent leanness--form the core of this series of essays, all of which will win the interest and admiration of readers. More-over, this film-flavored confection is so infused with Lazar's fascinating turn of mind and memory, forever digressing and reflecting upon his digressions, without ever losing the thread of his story, that his essays will give the reader the distinctive pleasure of witnessing an extraordinary mental performance.

Genres: Memoir

180 pages, Hardcover

First published April 2, 2003

About the author

David Lazar’s books include essays: Occasional Desire, (Nebraska) and The Body of Brooklyn (Iowa); prose poetry: Powder Town (Pecan Grove) nonfiction anthologies: Truth in Nonfiction (Iowa), After Montaigne (forthcoming from Georgia), and Essaying the Essay (Welcome Table Press); and interview collections: Michael Powell: Interviews and Conversations with M.F.K. Fisher (both Mississippi). He has lectured widely on nonfiction and editing, and founded the Ph.D. program in nonfiction writing at Ohio University, and directed the creation of the MFA program in nonfiction at Columbia College Chicago, where he teaches. He is the founding editor of Hotel Amerika, now in its fourteenth year.

Reviews

[Superstition Review · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Lazar writes The Body of Brooklyn while maintaining a logical style that makes the reader have a deeper understanding of what he experienced. He makes honest observations about society that are easy to follow but are also insightful. Speaking on subjects such as weight gain and losing his mother, it’s the manner in which Lazar manages to be introspective while also humorously describing his life that make this collection great. His way of writing is what captured my attention the most because he is able to describe a scene with such clarity but I am also able to see it through his eyes.

Review by Dennise Garcia

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wish Lazar tried to tell his story in one continuous narrative arc, rather than the "essays" here. He does have a tendency to go off on long tangents, and maybe a longer format would be more challenging for that reason?
(I wish Goodreads had a way to categorize books such as, "I bought this in the used bookstore for a sum I was willing to gamble with, otherwise I probably would not have read it.")

[Estep · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this a while back, going to buy it and read again. I love essays, especially good ones.

This isn't a "love letter to new york" or anything trite or cliche. The essays got style and they're stylish.

[Ruth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love reading autobiography but it's also tricky- it must be hard for the writer to know if somebody else is going to be as interested in his own stories as he is. I just couldn't get into this one for just that reason- too much detail about events that weren't grabbing me.

[Gary McDowell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book! Read it from the library, but have never bought the damn thing... need to buy it ASAP.

[Ty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good and lyrical. Fun but reflective. In the end I found it a little off putting. Trying to be too literary. I appreciate more approachable styles such as Ian Frazier. This book tries too hard.