101 Brooklyn Gifts: Your Holiday Guide
by The EditorsIf you’re going to buy gifts for people—and if you’re trying to create the illusion that you’re a functioning adult, you should—well then they may as well be from Brooklyn, or about Brooklyn or, at the very least, potentially appeal to other Brooklynites so that everyone knows, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that you are from Brooklyn. Brooklyn!
MUSIC
Jazz Vinyl Starter Kit
Available at Academy Annex, 96 N 6th St, Williamsburg $50
In addition to having the borough’s best selection of rock and electronic obscurities, Academy also has an unbelievably good and reasonably priced used jazz section. For right around $50, you should be able to grab five canonical records from labels like Impulse and Blue Note.
Grado SR60i Headphones
Available at Dijital Fix, 281 Bedford Ave, Williamsburg $79
It doesn’t get much more local than this: the legendary, family-owned audio company is based on 7th Avenue in Sunset Park, and their awesomely vintage looking SR60i on-ear headphones are generally regarded by audio nerds as the best buy under $100.
Frankie Rose & the Outs Tote Bag
Available from Greenpoint-based screen-printers kingslandprinting.com
It says “I know a thing or two about the local music scene, I respect women who wear a lot of black, am always prepared with a hair comb and reading material, and care about the environment.” For that special Type-A conservationist bordering on music snob in your life.
Tickets to Jeff Mangum at BAM
Available at… well, Craigslist is your best bet at this point. Sorries. Varying prices.
Everyone needs a good cry by late January. Give the gift of catharsis with tickets to one of the two (technically sold-out) shows by the enigmatic frontman of Neutral Milk Hotel at Brooklyn’s most majestic venue.
Northside posters by Two Arms Inc.
Available from Greenpoint-based designers twoarmsinc.com. $25 each or $60 for set of four
June 18, 2011: Guided by Voices, Wavves and Surfer Blood at McCarren Park. We will never forget. Neither should you. Or the loved one you’re buying for. (Limited-edition prints for each of the aforementioned bands are available, plus a general Northside poster with festival lineup.)
Parts & Labor complete discography
Available at Insound.com Roughly $120
Five albums, three EPs and a few 7-inches, perfect for a younger sibling under the impression that Andrew W.K. is cool, or a friend who missed the boat on one of the most consistently gutsy, hard-hitting bands operating out of Brooklyn. Parts & Labor have announced an “indefinite hiatus” starting in February, and you’ll want someone to lament with. Not a good gift for your Mom, though.
33 1/3 book on Television’s Marquee Moon
Available at Word, 126 Franklin St, Greenpoint $12.95
In the latest installment of Continuum’s series of pocket-sized guides to landmark albums, we have Brooklyn-based NYU English professor Bryan Waterman spilling over the origin and myth of Downtown cool, long, long before it moved across the river.
Subscription to Tape Op magazine
Available at tapeop.com Free
Since you’re obliged to listen to your friends’ bands anyway, you might as well make it a little easier on the ears. A one-year subscription to home-recording bible Tape Op will ease your hood’s would-be lo-fi savants into creamier, more creative sounds (at the very reasonable price of 100% free).
DIY Ukulele Kit
Available at uncommongoods.com $40
After the year she had, soon to be heralded in a blitz of year-end lists, “make me Merrill Garbus” is no-doubt a trending X-mas wish. Cultivate the Tune-Yards in your own back yard by gifting this handsome make-your-own ukulele kit. Nothing like crafting a tiny instrument with your own hands, using it to rock out at top-chest.
Stylophone Beatbox
Available at Altiusgifts.com $25
“No, no, no, I wanted to make live beat loops like Merrill!” Well, ok, how about this nifty beatbox contraption from the makers of the classic Stylophone device, once utilized to add spooky sci-fi ambiance to Bowie songs? Affordable beats at the touch of a wand.
The Year Punk Broke DVD
Available at Soundfix Records, 44 Berry St, Williamsburg $20
You know, we tried to come up with some sort of super clever way to attach this particular item to Brooklyn, but fuck it: If there’s a person in your life who isn’t an asshole and has ever expressed any affinity at all for punk and/or indie rock, you should buy this for them.
Spotify Premium Subscription
Gift cards are not currently available, but you’ll figure out something, we’re sure. Spotify.com $120
The jury’s still out on how fairly artists are being paid by Spotify (it’s indisputably better than when we just steal stuff, mind you), but living here in Brooklyn, you spend a lot of time walking around and riding subways, and would thus be well served by a Spotify Premium account, which allows you to listen to basically any song you could think of, wherever you are.
ART
You print by William Powhida
20x200.com $50-$200
This Bushwick-based artist, whose very fine and funny drawings lambaste the art world and U.S. political culture, was recently picked up by trendy Chelsea gallery Postmasters. So his print of the word “fuck” written in dozens of different typefaces is not only a perfect maybe-sarcastic holiday gift, but also a good investment.
Big Raven; print by Fred Tomaselli
Available at BrooklynMuseum.org, or Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway, Prospect Heights $25-$95
This huge collage, paint and epoxy piece was one of the most dazzling in the long-time Williamsburg-based artist’s major hometown retrospective last winter, and its avian figure’s bold colors will add that psychedelic touch to any friend’s personal collection.
Flower Mask by Kelie Bowman
Available at cindersgallery.com $60
Mainstay Williamsburg gallery Cinders may have lost its brick and mortar home twice in the last year, but founders Kelie Bowman and Sto are still hopeful and searching for a new space. In the meantime, their collection of handmade zines, prints and originals remains available online, like Bowman’s beautiful seven-color silkscreen print of a flower face.
16 ounce bottle of X-Ray Vision
Available at Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co. 375 Fifth Avenue, Park Slope $11
You’ll be a superhero in the suddenly x-ray-capable eyes of whomever you give this awesome gift to—just be sure to wear lead underwear around them thereafter.
We Are Happy To Serve You” ceramic coffee cup
Available at Future Perfect, 115 North 6th Street, Williamsburg $12
Brooklyn-based designer Graham Hill turned the iconic Greek-style coffee cup preferred (and proffered) by countless delis and coffee carts, and turned it reusable, making this the gift that keeps on refilling.
“Brooklyn Module” by Peter Feigenbaum
Available at Fuse-Works.com $30 for one, $100 for four
Let’s face it: most of us can’t give our loved ones a whole brownstone. But, thanks to Williamsburg-based artist Peter Feigenbaum’s editioned Trainset Ghetto miniatures, you can give a would-be housemate part of a tiny brownstone. Miniature holiday window decorations not included.
Poster of historic Ratzer map of New York City
Available at BrooklynHistory.org, or Brooklyn Historical Society, 128 Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn Heights $40
When the oldest map in Brooklyn was restored earlier this year, restorer Jonathan P. Derow told us: “Working on something you’re afraid to touch is a challenge.” Fortunately this poster won’t crumble when the Brooklyn history nerd in your life unwraps it.
Subscription to Abe’s Penny
Available at AbesPenny.com $82 for a year or $20 for three months
Remember how great it felt to receive postcards? No? Us neither. Damn. Well, Brooklyn-based sisters Anna and Tess Knoebel will send your loved one(s) new cards in their art and short literature postcard zine every week, so you can vicariously relive that lost pleasure.
“Alphabetized Newspaper” poster by Rutherford Chang
Available at CabinetMagazine.org, or Cabinet Magazine, 300 Nevins Street, Gowanus $15
Echoing our belief that print media should be treated as a rarefied art form rather than disposable media, Chang used the front page of the New York Times as raw material for this poster for the Brooklyn journal Cabinet, in which the words of every headline, photo caption and article have been alphabetized.
”Letters from Coney” book by Rosaire Appel
Available at Central Booking, 111 Front Street, Suite 210, DUMBO $400
Every page in this Brooklyn-based artist’s beautiful accordion book features a detail of a letter from one of Coney Island’s fast-disappearing hand-painted signs. There are only 20 copies of this limited edition book, which is probably more than there are hand-painted signs left at Coney.
FOOD AND DRINK
Winemaking Package
Available at Brooklyn Winery, 213 North 8th Street, Williamsburg $20-$30 per bottle
Be honest, you’ve wanted to crush grapes with your bare feet to make wine since you were four years old. Well, provided you’ve grown up a little, now’s your chance. You’ll get several barrel-fulls of your wine for your troubles.
Easy Like Sunday Morning Blueberry Preserves
Available at Greene Grape Provisions, 753 Fulton Street, Fort Greene or anarchyinajar.com $8.75
Anarchy in a Jar sounds more like a producer of Molotov cocktails than mild-mannered Brooklyn-made jams, but breakfast might get crazy when you spread this concoction of Maine blueberries and local maple syrup on your pancakes.
Bacon Love Locket
Available at etsy.com/shop/kharaledonne Roughly $38
This bauble is perfect for a lady who likes to keep a pig-butchering chart close to her heart, but Brooklyn-based Khara Ledonne’s spherical brass lockets also enclose tiny paintings of campfires, clipper ships and kites, as well as custom designs.
The Treats Truck Baking Book by Kim Ima
Available at WORD, 126 Franklin Street, Greenpoint $21.99
Until the Treats Truck Stop opens in Carroll Gardens, convince your favorite baker to hand-deliver you a batch of Treats Trucker Kim Ima’s classic sandwich cookies, sweet-salty butterscotch bars and candy-flecked rice crispy squares.
The Great Food Series from Penguin Classics
Available at BookCourt, 163 Court Street, Cobble Hill $12 per book
This collection of 400 years of food writing includes many lesser-known titles (such as The Chef at War, written by a cook who fed British troops during Victorian times) and would be welcome in any Brooklyn food nerd’s library.
Year’s subscription to Lucky Peach
Available at lky.ph/ $28
In a sea of food magazines, McSweeney’s Lucky Peach stands out as the edgiest and manliest of its peers. The full-color quarterly was created by New Yorkers—chef David Chang, writer Peter Meehan and the producers of Anothony Bourdain: No Reservations.
One Girl Cookies
Available at One Girl Cookies, 68 Dean Street, Cobble Hill $29 for 48 cookies
Brooklyn is rife with fine bakeries, but you’ll find the prettiest gift packaging here. Delicate, bite-sized cookies stay fresh in cellophane sleeves that are tucked into boxes decorated with vintage family photos and satin ribbon.
Brooklyn Kitchen Gift Card from Academy Records
Available at Brooklyn Kitchen, 100 Frost Street, Williamsburg name your price
Can’t decide whether to buy your beloved a knife skills class or a pile of taco dogs? These gift cards are redeemable for anything at the Brooklyn Kitchen and the Meathook, including all kitchenware, cookbooks, classes, meats and produce.
The Recipe Project by One Ring Zero, Michael Hearst and Leigh Newman
Available at WORD, 126 Franklin Street, Greenpoint $24.95
Chefs like Mario Batali and Tom Colicchio penned the recipes for this quirky coffee table book, Brooklyn band One Ring Zero put the culinary instructions to music in an enclosed CD, and food writers, including The L’s own Kara Zuaro, contributed essays.
Breuckelen Gin
Available at brooklynwineexchange.com $38
Distilled right here in Brooklyn and made with all New York grains, this here is sippin’ gin. Smooth and botanical, Breuckelen’s piney flavors of juniper and rosemary roll into a hint of citrus.
The Oxford Companion to Beer by Garrett Oliver
Available at BookCourt, 163 Court Street, Cobble Hill $65
Written by the brewmaster at Brooklyn Brewery, this 960-page tome offers just about everything you’ve ever wanted to know about beer. A must-have for beer geeks and home-brewers.
Brooklyn Butcher Blocks
Available at Cut Brooklyn, 465 Third Avenue, Gowanus $150
A former employee of Cut Brooklyn, the much-lauded handmade knife shop, branched off to produce these handsome cutting boards in radiant red cherry wood and deep, dark walnut wood.
Maestro Homebrew Beer Equipment Kit
Available at The Brooklyn Kitchen, 100 Frost Street, Williamsburg $79.99
The holidays are upon us, and we need to get really drunk while spending as little time outdoors in the terrible weather as possible. Solution: make as much beer as you like, in 6.5 gallon batches, with this easy-to-use homebrew kit.
The Companion Box Set
Available at Brooklyn Brewery Company Store, 79 North 11th Street, Williamsburg $80
This gift set includes a signed copy of the Brooklyn Brewery’s brewmaster’s book, The Oxford Companion to Beer, as well as 750 mL of bottled Companion Ale—the only way you can get it in a bottle.
“We Are Happy To Serve You” ceramic coffee cup
Available at TheFuturePerfect.com, or 115 North 6th Street, Williamsburg
Brooklyn-based designer Graham Hill turned the iconic Greek-style coffee cup preferred (and proffered) by countless delis and coffee carts, and turned it reusable, making this the gift that keeps on refilling.
Zodiac Winestopper
Life Curated, 186 Grand Street, Williamsburg $22
Seriously, tiny little winestopper sculptures of whatever sign of the Zodiac you want. These are just fucking cool.
FASHION
Gold Plated Giraffe
Available from Brooklyn Navy Yard-based designer Kiel Mead at kielmead.com $150
The holidays can be rough. Make like a giraffe and keep your head up with this pretty little gold pendant, which also makes quite a charm-ing gift.
Wool Blanket Stripe Necktie
Available from The Hill-Side, a Brooklyn-based brand sold at Smith & Butler, 225 Smith Street, Cobble Hill $94
Keep your guy’s neck warm with this fuzzy (and stylish) wool necktie. Perfect for those cold winter days at the office.
Spitfire Novocaine Sunglasses
Available at shop.alterbrooklyn.com $38
Lady Gaga meets Theophilus London, in sunglasses form.
Christophe Lemaire Buckle Creepers
Available at Bird, visit shopbird.com for store locations $410
Jumping on the creeper train is the easiest way to make yourself and someone else look like you know how to dress yourselves.
Tuesday Night Band Practice Lilith Leather Biker Jacket
Available at Oak, 208 North 8th Street, Williamsburg $922
Leather. Suede. Ironic patriotism. A girl needs nothing else.
Jeffrey Campbell Studded Vias Loafter
Available at Oak, 208 North 8th Street, Williamsburg$169
No festive wrapping required!
Reid.Damnit Lipstick Red Leather Belt
Crafted in Wiliamsburg and available at etsy.com/shop/reiddamnit $55
The perfect accessory for the lady on your list who wears red lipstick.
Touch Screen Mutewatch
Available at Bird, visit shopbird.com for store locations $260
This space-age bracelet tells the time, and features a vibrating alarm and hidden touch screen. Love.
Deborah Lippmann Boom Boom Pow Nailpolish
Available at Catbird, 219 Bedford Avenue, Williamsburg $20
It doesn’t get much more local than this: the legendary, family-owned Audio company is based on 7th Avenue in Sunset Park, and their awesomely vintage looking SR60i on-ear headphones are generally regarded by audio nerds everywhere as the best buy under $100
G (Brooklyn to Queens) T-Shirt
Available at the New York Transit Museum, Boerum Place at Schermerhorn Street,
Downtown Brooklyn $20
Rep the only subway line fortunate enough never to set rail in Manhattan with this shirt from the New York Transit Museum.
CockFight Earrings
Available at Old Hollywood, 99 Franklin Street, Greenpoint $85
Cockfighting may be illegal, but these earrings are so cute they should be illegal.
RHLS Triangle Dress
Available at Moves, 419 Graham Ave, Williamsburg (Price not listed)
This triangle dress from RHLS, the Brooklyn-based label with a knack for creating dreamy geometric-inspired pieces, will really whip your holiday wardrobe into shape.
Digby & Iona Spyglass Necklace
Available at Catbird, 219 Bedford Avenue, Williamsburg $250
For blind people, like us!
PETROU\MAN Shirt with Patch Pockets
Available at Oak, 208 North 8th Street, Williamsburg $400
This button-up is formal enough to legitimize wearing plaid to your holiday party.
Georgia Varidakis Gold-Plated Wing Necklace
Available at Artists & Fleas, North 7th Street, Williamsburg, or georgiavaridakis.com $120
Boyfriends, buy this for your girlfriend. She’ll like it. (Unless she’s really Goth or something.)
The Countdown Party Dress
Available at Dalaga, 150 Franklin Street, Greenpoint $80
So perfectly Twenties it hurts. This sequin mini-dress will take you from holiday parties to New Year’s Eve faster than you can say, “Boardwalk Empire.”
YML Leather Holster
Available at shop.alterbrooklyn.com $115
This Italian leather holster is the perfect size for sneaking a flask into the ol’ holiday office party.
Pamela Love Sterling Silver Double Finger Crystal Ring
Available at pamelalovenyc.com $525
‘Tis the season for holiday parties. And what better way to accessorize than this crystal-adorned cocktail ring from NYC-based jewelry designer Pamela Love?
Spitfire Daxx Suglasses
Available at shop.alterbrooklyn.com $38
Who cares if it’s a snowy winter day? These glasses are too amazing to keep tucked in a drawer until summertime. Throw in some candy canes and you’ve got the perfect stocking-stuffer.
Carrot Company PVC Backpack
Available at shop.alterbrooklyn.com $78
The kind of backpack that looks just as good filled to the brim as it does with just a spiral notebook and a number two pencil.
Collina Strada Muff Bag
Available at Smith & Butler, 225 Smith Street, Cobble Hill $264
A cross-body leather bag to rival all the rest. It’s a no-brainer, really.
No. 267 Telescope Crown Hat
Available at Smith & Butler, 225 Smith Street, Cobble Hill $84
The wide-brimmed hat trend is not over just yet, so you might as well gift the perfect one.
Whit Knit Wool Turban
Available at Bird, visit shopbird.com for store locations $195
The 1920s beanie with equal parts warmth and style. It’s a win-win.
Flotsam & Jetsam Pygmy Seahorse Ring
Available at Catbird, 219 Bedford Avenue, Williamsburg $90
Errrrehhhh! (Seahorse sound).
HOME/DESIGN
Picture That! Readymade Terrarium
Available at cogandpearl.com $50
These tiny landscapes inside glass eggs are not only superb and assembled in Brooklyn; each also includes a miniature photographer of a gender of your choosing, perfect for the landscape shutterbug in your life (or, you know, just someone who likes cool shit).
Think Fabricate Fluid Trays
Available at 25 Chapel Street, Downtown Brooklyn
These trays from Think Fabricate—a multidisciplinary design studio based in Brooklyn—are perfect for entertaining this holiday season.
Oga Tilted Mug
Available at Life Curated, 186 Grand St, Williamsburg $15
So maybe we’re kind of childish, but we’re pretty sure your teenage relative (maybe off to college?) would LOVE this freaky trompe l’oeil coffee cup that appears to be melting into the table.
Talon candlestick
Available at Catbird, 219 Bedford Avenue, Williamsburg $56
Bird feet are gross. Unless they are on the bottom of a brass candlestick.
Ratzer Map Poster
Available at 128 Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn Heights or online at brooklynhistory.org $46
Support the Brooklyn Historical Society and score an easy gift for that person on your list you have no idea what to buy. Seriously, what’s not to love?
Heirloom State-Shaped Cutting Board
Available from etsy.com/shop/AHeirloom $40
Do you miss home? Chop some onions on it and then cry.
Plants from Root Stock
Available at Root Stock, 471 Myrtle Avenue, Clinton Hill Varying Prices
A plant or three from Root Stock will do the trick pleasing everyone from you Mom to your dog-sitter. Even the dingiest of Brooklyn apartments needs love.
The Wild Unknown 2012 Kitten Calendar
Available at Catbird, 219 Bedford Avenue, Williamsburg $30
The Etsy-approved version of LOLcats. Also, helps you determine what day it is.
Novice Gardener Set
Available at 1000 Washington Avenue, Crown Heights $45
Got a flower box/backyard/community garden plot that’s been growing wild? This handy Brooklyn Botanic Garden kit has everything you’ll need to whip it back into shape come spring.
Pierre Terrariums
Available at Sprout Home, 44 Grand Street, Williamsburg from $56
Everybody’s apartment could use a little more life. Add some with these hanging terrariums.
Marianne Van Ooij “Dressed for Dinner” Dinner Set
Available online at mariannevanooij.com
When entertaining, it’s the details that count. Step up your game with a new dinner set from the Brooklyn-based Dutch designer Marianne Van Ooij.
Numbers LED Clock
Available at areaware.com $100
It’s a lot harder to hit the snooze button when your alarm clock consists of four two-inch cubes, each displaying one digit of the hour. Ipso facto, get local designer Jonas Damon’s clever clock from Williamsburg’s Areaware and you’ll win back ten minutes every day.
Holey Chair!
Available at Voos 105 North 3rd Street, Williamsburg $1,895
It’s not a chair at all, but it’s perfect.
MISC.
Tribal Design Stationary
Available at Life Curated, 186 Grand Street, Williamsburg $4 per card
These cards might look like they’re from the Southwest, but they’re actually designed and printed right here in Brooklyn. Perfect for your friend from New Mexico.
East River Ferry Monthly Pass
Available at nywaterway.com
$140
We take the ferry way more than we thought we would. We would love this gift.
Constantine and Laurene Leon Babel Blocks
Available at thefutureperfect.com $63
What would New York City be without cultural diversity? Um, every other city. Celebrate that with these silk-screened wood babel blocks.
Strida LT Bicycle Geometry
Available at areaware.com $650.00
Triangles are our favorite shape, which makes this folding bicycle one of our favorite gifts for the commuter on your list. Bonus: It comes in neon green!
Sarah Cihat Perfume No.6
Available at Life Curated, 186 Grand Street, Williamsburg $112
If the Flinstones cared about smelling good, they would totally be gifting this perfume, which is handmade in Brooklyn and contained in a stone-like cast porcelain bottle.
Chocolate Hand Cream
Available at Shen, 315 Court Street, Cobble Hill $8.50
Because admit it. You totally have that friend you can justify buying a last minute cupcake-packaged hand cream for if all else fails.
Mrs. White’s Absolute Gentleman Moisturizer For Men
Available at Shen, 315 Court Street, Cobble Hill $28
For the “rugged” gentleman in your life.
The Fir Tree Home Spray
Available at 93 Wythe Avenue, Williamsburg $45
The smell of Fir Trees is one of those quintessential “it’s winter” things, like spiked eggnogg, warm gingerbread cookies and the first snow. Get in the holiday spirit regardless of the season with Williamsburg’s CB I Hate Perfume home spray.
Andy Warhol Limited Edition Brooklyn Bridge Skateboard Deck
Available at BrooklynMuseum.org, or 200 Eastern Parkway, Prospect Heights $95
Celebrate the first thaw by breaking in your new deck, printed with a pink, green, black and turquoise image of the iconic span by the Pop master himself.
BOOKS
BAM: The Complete Works
Available at Greenlight Bookstore at BAM’s Peter Jay Sharp Building, 30 Lafayette Avenue, Fort Greene $65
This limited edition tome contains more than 350 photographs of BAM productions and performers from the last 150 years, from Enrico Caruso through Laurie Anderson.
Literary Brooklyn
Available at Greenlight Bookstore, 686 Fulton Street, Fort Greene $17
Evan Hughes explores Brooklyn’s literary history, moving from Walt Whitman to Henry Miller to Truman Capote to Jennifer Egan.
Missed Connections
Available at Word, 126 Franklin Street, Greenpoint $13.95
Brooklyn-based illustrator Sophie Blackall uses Craigslist missed connections, many from encounters in Brooklyn, as a basis for gorgeous ink and watercolor representations. For a seemingly thin and gimmicky premise, the book is unexpectedly moving and wonderful.
Brooklyn Magazine yearly subscription
Available at bklynmag.com $9.99
Yes, we publish this glossy quarterly, but we wouldn’t publish it if we didn’t stand so firmly behind it. It’s a smart, impeccably designed portrait of all things Brooklyn.
1Q84, by Haruki Murakami
Available at the Community Bookstore, 143 Seventh Avenue, Park Slope $30.50
It’s a Brooklyn gift because The New Murakami is one L train accessory that never goes out of style.
n+1 Subscription
Available at nplusonemag.com $30
Now more than ever. How do you think they’ll pay for Gessen’s bail?
420 Characters by Lou Beach
Available at WORD, 126 Franklin Street, Greenpoint $22
Each story story began as a Facebook status update (hence the title), fleshed out in the author-illustrator’s retro-collage style. For the brilliant procrastinator in your life.
Brooklyn Lit Mag Three-Pack
Available at Spoonbill and Sugartown, 218 Bedford Avenue, Williamsburg
For a cross-section of borough literary culture, remarkably originating from the home offices of dedicated part-timers, sample the poems and pretty pictures in the lovingly handmade ‘zine birdsong; the rising MFAs side-by-side with dead Nobel Laureates in The Coffin Factory; and the interviews with coattail-dragging contemporary novelists in Slice.
The Ecstasy of Influence, by Jonathan Lethem
Available at BookCourt, 163 Court Street, Cobble Hill $19.57
Now that the Bard of Boerum Hill has decamped for sunny California, you can only hear him bandy about the names of his beloved genre authors and Aussie indie-pop bands if you buy this new essay collection (or, we suppose, if you imagine his voice).
In the Presence of Absence by Mahmoud Darwish
Available at Greenlight Bookstore, 686 Fulton Street, Fort Greene $16
This autobiographical narrative from the late great Palestinian poet is the latest of his works to be published in English by Archipelago Books, the Gowanus-based literature-in-translation press.
We the Animals, by Justin Torres
Available at WORD, 126 Franklin Street, Greenpoint $18
The mixed-race kids of two Brooklyn-born parents grow up wild in upstate New York, in this acclaimed debut novel from a former bookstore clerk and psychic bane to current bookstore clerks.
Other People We Married by Emma Straub
Available at BookCourt, 163 Court Street, Cobble Hill $10.47
BookCourt’s own Emma Straub, the friendliest bookseller in town, spins a collection of short stories from the perspective of a people-person. Flawed-yet-forgivable characters stay with you long after you finish the final yarn.
Newtown Creek: A Photographic Survey of New York’s Industrial Waterway by Anthony Hamboussi
Available at Greenlight Bookstore, 686 Fulton Street, Fort Greene $55
For five years, seemingly only on overcast days, Brooklyn-based photographer Anthony Hamboussi took beautiful photos from the banks and bridges of Newtown Creek, capturing its industrial activity, urban ruins and toxic, toxic waters.
Joe Swanberg: Collected Films 2011
factorytwentyfive.com $99.95
Brooklyn-based film distributor Factory 25 created this signed gift box collecting the mumblecore maven’s four films from this year—at least one of which we know to be excellent—plus a seven-inch, a book of photos, and more.
Bored to Death: Season Two
Availible at hbo.com $39.98
The second season wasn’t as Brooklyn-y as the first, focusing more attention on the characters than the setting. But, hey, it’s still very funny, so that’s fine.
DIY Super 8 Filmmaking class
Available at 3rd Ward, 195 Morgan Avenue, Bushwick
Have your life memorialized in the style of 60s home movies evermore, once you enroll the Jonas Mekas in your life into this course, focusing on shooting, developing, editing and manipulating the greatest of all film stocks.
