![]() ![]() Jonathan Lethem: The book is partly about how some things that occur are translated, often rather rapidly, into something that could be called an urban legend, but they become very charged because of the element of the real that’s hiding inside the legendary part of them. ![]() Kyla Walker: How do you think about urban legends in terms of what to believe and what to disregard? And how did they influence you growing up and now as a writer? Through the novel’s eclectic cast of characters - including a spoiled boy, a millionaire’s son, a mediator named C., an antiquarian kid, the board-game obsessed, a Brooklyn novelist, the Brazen Head Wheeze, hippies replaced by hipsters, movie stars, and the elusive narrator himself - we become absorbed into the past lives of a borough that has been eroded but not yet erased.ĭespite the kaleidoscope of characters within the novel, it is still Brooklyn that serves as the protagonist, and the propelling mystery at hand is: What happened to it? Returning to Dean Street after twenty years, Lethem brings with him a magnifying glass, profound retrospect, an open mind, and scintillating insight to find the true meaning of growing up - not just for the boys on the block, but for the city, for Brooklyn itself. The voice behind the novel immerses tourists and locals alike into the urban myths and overheard phone calls that pass between kids and parents, as well as the secrets that are unspoken for decades yet somehow known by all. Through a range of fictional scenes, vignettes, muggings, walks, dances, and late-night conversations, Lethem investigates the physical and cultural gentrification of Brooklyn along with the undercurrents of the racial and sexual politics that have always been there, pulsing in its streets throughout history. The narration proves to be omniscient, prismatic, and perpetually evolving. But more likely, you’ll find that it belongs outside of these realms. No one would fault you for imagining that Brooklyn Crime Novel exists in these universes. You might think of specific titles such as The Big Sleep, The Maltese Falcon, The Black Dahlia, The Feral Detective, Gun, With Occasional Music, and perhaps even Motherless Brooklyn. ![]() When you hear the title Brooklyn Crime Novel, you might automatically think of genres involving mystery - whodunnit, noir, hardboiled, detective fiction, etc. ![]()
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