I'm very surprised that Lopate made no mention of H. P. Lovecraft's stories which take place in Brooklyn. They certainly are not about domesticity, and pre-date Selby's rawer take on Brooklyn by a few decades. Or does something have to have first been reviewed in the NYT book review to count? Just asking.

Nice article. But somehow you forgot the wonderful novel by the late Harvey Swados, "Nights in the Garden of Brooklyn." Swados makes the Brooklyn of the 40's and 50's come alive, complete with people sleeping on fire escapes in hot sweltering nights. It's a gem. Ron Radosh

Greetings, Phil, from California. Always delightful to read your take on things. I've been back to Brooklyn a lot lately. For my 8th grade 50th reunion at P.S. 99 last year in the Midwood section. (Woody went there and named the character portrayed by Mia in "Zelig" after our common principal, Dr. Eudora Fletcher.) And this past April, to a Nolan Family Reunion in Park Slope where I met many Irish cousins for the first time. My daughter Rosy now lives in Williamsburg and loves it. I'll be back in August. Would love to visit with you and your family. - Michael

I wish New York wasn't ostensibly the center of the publishing universe, so writers of all stripes would get over the institutional fellatio for the city and the surrounding area.

Manhattanites view Brooklyn like it's an idiot nephew. "You live way out there?"

I grew up with a strong distaste for The City, being raised in upstate New York, and watching our tax dollars support the disproportionate population and development while our town struggled. A year spent in Brooklyn did nothing to mollify this opinion (sure, an all-you-can-eat sushi joint within walking distance was a wonderful luxury, but paying $2 per square foot each month in rent was asinine).

I watch disaster movies to see Bad Things happen to The Big Apple. I guess even negative attention is still the attention New York believes it deserves, and people will always be willing to fawn over it.

Thank you so much for the "flashback"! I've read hundreds, perhaps thousands, of books in my 58 years but none affected me as much as "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn", a book that I first read when I was about 10 years old, three years after my father left for greener pastures. Francie Nolan and her family not only struck a chord in my 10 year-old heart but it also gave me hope that life would go on despite the setbacks and heartbreaks that might come my way. Since that time I've read "Tree" at least a dozen more times and its timeless story never fails to touch me ... it's a beautiful window into 1940's Brooklyn, into family, and into the heart of every little girl who thinks that the sun rises and sets on her dad.

Not to be self-serving -- oh, alright, to be self-serving -- I'd like to draw the attention of all staunch Brooklyners to my own Williamsburg novel, SOLOS, published in 2004 by Berkley/Penguin. It's about a photographer, a dog-walker, and a group of artists (et cetera), all of whom live in Williamsburg, off Bedford Avenue, near McCarren Park, where my husband and I lived for many years. I left the city in February 2006 to live upstate in the woods, but part of me(left foot? mitral valve? spleen?) is still there and always will be. SOLOS went prematurely out of print due to a computer glitch at Penguin (advice to all aspiring writers: don't!), but I hope it will be back in print soon, and meanwhile I suggest www.abebooks.com. It's a novel very few people have heard of, but I promise you: if you love Williamsburg, you'll love SOLOS. You might even like it if you live somewhere else.... Another out-of-print Williamsburg novel is CAUGHT, by Jane Schwartz, about the pigeon-flying culture that used to flourish there -- again, you have to seek it out, but it's worth it.

I could have this wrong, not being from Brooklyn or the US for that matter, but dosen't a large part of Sophie's Choice by William Styron? take place in Yetta's pink palace in "a place as strange as Brooklyn". Surely if I'm right about this then the book deserves a mention in this article for capturing the immeadiate post ww2 mood. I still remember that final scene of the Brooklyn Bridge in the movie and Stingo's voice over reciting "Wide make their bed" by Emily Dikinson. Ah but memory is an malleable thing, I could have it all wrong.

A major omission: Paul Auster, whose The Brooklyn Follies is only the most recent of his many Brooklyn-based works. Add to this the pair of movies, Smoke and Blue in the Face, and you have one of the borough's notables.

Another great take on the Brooklyn/Manhattan dichotomy (and a great parallel read to "Fortress of Solitude") is "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay." Lots of great Jewish Brooklyn stuff in there.

As for Anonymous, quit whining. When your podunk hometown inspires the same amount of prose and poetry that Brooklyn and the City has, then maybe somebody will care what you think. Until then, you're just another hater.

RE: 3reddogs

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was writen in the early 40s and set during the turn of the 20th centuary, ending at the beginning of WWl.

and dont forget "Only the Dead Know Brooklyn" by Thomas Wolfe.

This is the newest book by Paul Auster. It is funny, sad, ironic and pure Brooklyn. If you haven't read it, you need to.

The Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster is the best new book I've read about Brooklyn. This book should be included in any list of books. The cover was shot on 2nd street close to Prospect Park. The story begins when Nathan Glass comes home to die. This is the latest in a long line of follies. The author lives in Brooklyn and has written several best selling books.

I just wanted to recommend a book for your left-hand column with a list of books about Brooklyn.

The book that you should add is _The Brooklyn Follies_ by Paul Auster.

Thank you.

James Miele Scialabba