The Art of Presidential Fiction: An Interview With Thomas Mallon

"Watergate" cover

Thomas Mallon’s novel Finale is subtitled “A Novel of the Reagan Years,” and while it shares certain characteristics with his earlier novel Watergate, it takes an intriguing approach to the presidential figure at its center. Here, Reagan is presented obliquely: heroic to some and infuriating to others. Largely set in late 1986 and early 1987, the novel follows a number of politically-connected characters grappling with the issues and controversies of the time.

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Vol.1 Brooklyn’s December 2017 Book Preview

It’s December, and the year has begun to reach its end. There’s a chill in the air; the streets of the city have grown more quiet, and jackets and scarves can be seen marching down the sidewalks. The year still has some notable books due to be released, however: everything from late works by acclaimed authors to stylistically bold experimental works by new and vital voices. Here’s a look at some of the books due out this month that have […]

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Christopher Hitchens Marking Up Gatsby

There’s something oddly comforting about the Vanity Fair website acting as some de facto Christopher Hitchens museum with the archive they have set up.  And while we’ve probably had our fill of Gatsby-related SEO posts, Hitch’s handwritten notes in his copy of Fitzgerald’s masterpiece make us kinda happy. Follow Vol. 1 Brooklyn on Twitter, Facebook, Google +, our Tumblr, and sign up for our mailing list.  

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Afternoon Bites: New Janet Malcolm, Blackout Covers, Carl Wilson on Leonard Cohen, and More

The New York Times on how political reporters read. Michael Robbins on David Foster Wallace. Carl Wilson on Leonard Cohen. The story behind New York‘s amazing blackout cover. New Janet Malcolm nonfiction in the New York Review of Books. Clearly I Didn’t Think This Through author Anna Goldfarb is profiled in Metro today. Joe Winkler looks at Christopher Hitchens’s Mortality. Proceeds from Dan Deacon’s New York shows later this month will go towards Hurricane Sandy relief. Follow Vol. 1 Brooklyn on Twitter, Facebook, Google + and our Tumblr.

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Morning Bites: Proust and (Maybe) Bellow’s Birthday, Goodbye Bookstore, Making New Haven Angry and More

Marcel Proust,  Nikola Tesla, Ronnie James Dio and maybe Saul Bellow were both born on this day. There’s a Christopher Hitchens essay on George Orwell in this month’s Vanity Fair. At Book Riot: Eulogy for an Evanston, Il. bookstore that one Vol. 1 contributor used to visit. Jennifer Miller lists three books on scandalous teachers at NPR. Elizabeth Greenwood talks Magic Mike at The New Inquiry. That time GANT pissed off all of New Haven. Follow Vol. 1 Brooklyn on Twitter, Facebook, Google + and our Tumblr.

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