Leaving Brooklyn (Rediscovery)

Before she spills the central transition of the book, reviewer Brody asks, "I can hardly believe that there are only two reviews written for it in eleven years." Well, my excuse is that I have just now read this short and engaging volume. At age 15, Audrey is more complex than she knows. No, wait. As an adult, Audrey's reminiscences show her earlier self to be more complex. Or maybe it is this: The act of remembering involves... Read Full Review

This is a beautiful book. I can hardly believe that there are only two reviews written for it in eleven years. The writer is wonderful and I wish more people had read her and shared their impressions of her writing. The book is about a young girl with an eye that only sees the border of things. She is legally blind. That eye is used as a metaphor for all that exists with fuzzy boundaries, outside the known and familiar... Read Full Review

I've fallen in love with this book. It is skillful poetry about the coming of age of Audrey with the poetic eye. It is about how society cookie cuts its children, to protect them, to cover for the world and thus make it a better place for them, but Audrey has an eye and a mind and heart that knows better. It is about how our parents, our teachers, mean well for us, but leech out the wisdom and individuality, in the process.Lynne... Read Full Review

I loved Leaving Brooklyn, and I think I, like the main character Audrey, am still trying to get free even though I have never been there. Brooklyn is that safe and settled fantasy we were taught to believe in as children and cling to, beyond reason, as adults. Audrey is an outrageous character--ambitious and calculated--fully believable as a fifteen year old. I relate to her and the author's astonishing honesty. Her... Read Full Review