Bed-Stuy Is Burning: A Novel
3/5
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About this ebook
Aaron, a disgraced rabbi turned Wall Street banker, and Amelia, his journalist girlfriend, live with their newborn in Bedford-Stuyvesant, one of the most dynamic, historical, and volatile neighborhoods in New York City. The infusion of upwardly mobile professionals into Bed-Stuy’s historic brownstones belies the tension simmering on the streets below. But after a cop shoots a boy in a nearby park, conflict escalates to rioting—with Aaron and his family at its center.
Pulled into the riot’s vortex are Antoinette, devout nanny to Aaron and Amelia’s son; Jupiter, the single father who lives on their block with his son, Derek; Daniel, Aaron’s unhinged tenant in their basement unit; and Sara, a smart high school dropout broiling with confusion and rage. As the day unfolds, these diverse characters are forced to reckon with who they are and what truly matters to them.
Through the lens of one catastrophic day emerges a nuanced portrait of a changing neighborhood and its residents as they struggle to raise children, establish careers, and find love, fulfillment, and meaning in their lives. Sharp-eyed, fast-paced, and “sure to get people talking” (Vanity Fair), Bed-Stuy Is Burning offers a window into an array of complex lives and deftly wrestles with the most pressing issues of our time.
Brian Platzer
Brian Platzer has an MFA from the Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars, and a BA from Columbia University. His writing has appeared often in The New Yorker’s “Shouts and Murmurs” and McSweeney’s “Internet Tendency,” as well as in The New York Times, The New Republic, Salon, and elsewhere. He lives with his wife and two young sons in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, and teaches middle school English in Manhattan. He is the author of the novels Bed-Stuy Is Burning and The Body Politic.
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Reviews for Bed-Stuy Is Burning
5 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A story that takes place all in one day. However, there is a lot of history about Bed-Stuy, so be prepared for that.It's really a sad sort of story about what can happen, or maybe did, when the rich try to come into a neighborhood and take it over from the people who have been there for decades. People who may not have the ways or means to move anywhere else.There is also a lot of discrimination going on in this book. Towards the people, the police and the neighborhood.A story of a riot and the people who were involved whether by choice or by just being in the wrong place at the wrong time.Thanks to Atria Books and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Bed-Stuy is Burning Is the story of Aaron and Amelia, a white couple who has moved into a primarily black area of New York City called Bed-Stuy. Amelia is an aspiring journalist, and Aaron is a gambling addict, for a rabbi, and now a successful financial broker. They are unmarried, and have a son named Simon. One day, a 12-year-old black boy is shot by a cop in Bed-Stuy. Racial unrest follows, and Aaron and Amelia’s house is targeted in the riot. Most of the book takes place on the day of the riot, plus the aftermath of that day.
I liked this book, but didn’t love it, a solid 3 stars.