The Body of Brooklyn (Sightline Books)

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. Moreover, 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. Lazar's essays vary in their focus as much as each meanders within itself: he recalls, for example, the "melon man" of his childhood, grottoes in Brooklyn, his extensive wardrobe, and his father's "pragmatically crafty alter ego." Constantly expanding the boundaries of his writing style, Lazar also includes a unique photo-essay that provides a series of brilliant verbal riffs on old family photographs. The voice found within The Body of Brooklyn - unrepentantly literary, funny, digressive, and centered on Brooklyn - is quite unlike any other in contemporary literature. It will fascinate and intrigue all who listen.