“Uh-oh!” Simon said. “Uh-oh!”
She—they—could have another baby. A brother or sister for Simon. Amelia’s roots would grow deeper still, take hold in the cement beneath her.
“Ames?” Aaron said. “Did you hear me? This isn’t enough to destroy everything.”
“I spoke to my agent”—Amelia swallowed—“who says we couldn’t have planned it better if I’d written Sara’s article myself. The book will be out in a few weeks, and this will be all the publicity we need. I’m going to be everywhere.”
The wind battered the windows.
“Wait—” Aaron said. “What about the allegations? Or not allegations—you did shoot at her, right? Will there be charges? Have you spoken to Bratton’s people yet?”
Bratton had left her a message, too. The commissioner himself. He wanted her to respond aggressively to the article. For all you’ve done for her. You shot at her because she invaded your home. And she’s blaming you for paying her. She isn’t making sense. She should be thanking you the rest of her life. You and Aaron gave her everything she has. We’ll call a press conference. Just say the word. Amelia was powerful now. But Bratton’s tone made her feel more shame than the message from her editor at the Times had.
“He wants me to respond,” Amelia said, “but as long as he’s not too close to me on this it doesn’t matter to him. I’m not going to say anything. I’ll let the book speak for itself.”
But her book could never tell the real story. With Simon paralyzed downstairs and Amelia uncertain she’d ever see Aaron again. It was just her and Sara in that room, and Amelia telling herself she could do it, she had to do it, she had to do whatever was necessary. She had to take care of her baby and herself. So she did. When Sara started to swing that metal rod at her, she shot. Sara was going to hurt her. Sara would have killed her. So Amelia reacted. She was the hero of the story. Even if nothing was clean or easy or perfectly comprehensible, Amelia was the hero of this story, and she couldn’t let herself forget it.
“Well I’ll be here with you,” Aaron said.
Amelia smiled. She leaned forward and let the wind try to unmoor her. She dared it to.
Acknowledgments
Thank you to Mom and Dad for raising me in the most loving, caring, life-affirming way. Thank you to Jamie for being the best sister and friend.
Thank you to Trena Keating, America’s best agent. Without your editorial guidance, publishing-industry wisdom, and all-purpose kindness, I’d be lost. And thank you to everyone at Atria, especially my editor, Sarah Cantin. That someone so brilliant, gracious, and skilled exists in one person is a miracle.
Thank you to John Paul Carillo for improving every sentence in this novel, to Andrew Palmer for adding a few of his own, and to Rafael Yglesias for generously inducting me into the life of the writer.
Thank you to Rod Keating and all my teachers at Grace Church School for instilling in me the love of books, and doubly thank you for welcoming me back and providing such wonderful students and colleagues. Thank you to Lisa Stifler, Catherine Gillot, and my other inspiring teachers at Dalton; to the English and writing departments at Columbia; and to Alice McDermott, Jean McGarry, and all my brilliant teachers and classmates at the Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars. Thank you to everyone at Lake Owego. And thank you to my friends and neighbors in Bed-Stuy for everything.
Thank you to Eli. My house—and life—would fall apart without you.
And of course, to Alex, the best thing ever to happen to me. And to Owen and Sam, more than the best. I love you three the world.
An Atria Reading Club Guide
Bed-Stuy Is Burning
Brian Platzer
This reading group guide for Bed-Stuy Is Burning includes an introduction, discussion questions, and ideas for enhancing your book club. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book.
Introduction
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 and historically 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 local girl roiling with confusion and rage. As the day unfolds, these characters are forced to reckon with who they are and what truly matters to them.
Topics & Questions for Discussion
1. The novel’s epigraph is a quote from the Bible, depicting the story of the Tower of Babel. Discuss the significance of this quote and its relevance to the novel. What themes from this story appear in Bed-Stuy Is Burning?
2. One of the effects of telling this story from multiple perspectives is that we observe some of the differences and similarities between how these characters see themselves compared to how others see them. Consider one of the central characters, such as Antoinette, Daniel, or Amelia, and discuss how they are portrayed through the viewpoints of others during the course of the novel.
3. When you first read Amelia’s essay, “The Paradox of Bed-Stuy” (pg. 45-49), what was your reaction? If you were commenting on the post, or responding to one of the existing comments, what would you write?
4. When describing why he became a rabbi, Aaron thinks, “ . . . that was what he felt down to the core of his being: that he should live his life in a way to redress the horrors that had come before him” (pg 10-11). Do you agree that rectifying past atrocities should be a primary guiding force in people’s lives? In the case of Aaron, was this a good reason to become a rabbi? Do you think you’re doing anything in your life with the same motivation?
5. What is the significance of Part One of the novel taking place during Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year?
6. Which characters did you most identify with in the novel? Were there characters you couldn’t connect with at all? If so, which ones, and why?
7. Given Daniel’s initial sympathy with his black neighbors, were you surprised by how he responded to Sara and her friends? What were some of the factors that led him to react in that manner? If you were in his position, what do you think you would have done?
8. What do you think appeals to Bratton about taking a “medical approach to dealing with crime” (pg. 243)? What are some potential drawbacks to this clinical mindset?
9. Discuss the role of faith in the novel. How do Antoinette and Aaron’s beliefs and use of ritual for healing and protection complicate or adhere to your notion of religion? Beyond religion, what other forms of faith do you see in the novel?
10. What was your reaction to Amelia capitalizing on what occurred during the riots to further her career? Do you think you would feel differently about her actions if she had used the story with no benefit to Sara? Why or why not?
11. Guilt is a theme that echoes throughout the book, with characters questioning who is at fault, either feeling or shirking guilt, as well as placing blame on others. Look at a few examples from the book, such as Aaron’s attitude toward his gambling, Amelia’s role in Mr. Jupiter’s death, Daniel’s resentment of Aaron, or any character’s understanding of who is to blame for the tensions in the neighborhood. How do these characters’ senses of responsibility change over the course of the book, if at all? In what ways can guilt be a useful or destructive emotion?
Enhance Your Book Club
1. While Jason Blau’s death was fictional, the issue of police violence is very real, as are the cries for resistance and reform. Consider reviewing some goals of current organizations
on this topic, such as Black Lives Matter’s Campaign Zero ( www.joincampaignzero.org). As a group, discuss these potential policies. Do they seem like effective ideas to you? If they were implemented, how do you think they would impact some of the scenarios shown in the book?
2. Take a look at the history of where you live, or the community you grew up in. How has the area shifted, racially and/or socioeconomically, over time? What were some of the causes or consequences of those changes? If you’ve personally encountered gentrification, either as someone moving into an “up-and-coming” neighborhood or someone who has been displaced or disadvantaged by rising costs, consider sharing your experiences with the group.
3. Write a short story involving Simon or Sara, fifteen years after the day of the riots. If you’re writing about Simon, consider how he relates to his neighborhood. Was he impacted by what he witnessed as a baby? What have his parents told him about that day? What will he believe about racial tensions, police violence, and/or gentrification? If you’re writing about Sara, what was her experience in private school or college like? Did she become a lawyer, as she planned? What is her relationship with her brother like now? How does she feel about everything that happened, looking back? Share your stories together as a group.
About the Author
BRIAN PLATZER has an MFA from the Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars and a BA from Columbia University. His writing has frequently appeared in the New Yorker’s Shouts and Murmurs and McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, as well as 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.
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2017 by Brian Platzer
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Interior design by Dana Sloan
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Author photograph by Lauren Silberman
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Platzer, Brian, author.
Title: Bed-Stuy is burning : a novel / Brian Platzer.
Description: New York : Atria Books, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016032068 (print) | LCCN 2016039359 (ebook) | ISBN 9781501146954 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781501146961 (trade pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781501146978 (eBook)
Subjects: LCSH: Bankers—Fiction. | Neighborhoods—Fiction. | Gentrification—Fiction. | Social conflict—Fiction. | City and town life—Fiction. | Change (Psychology)—Fiction. | Bedford-Stuyvesant (New York, N.Y.)—Fiction. | Psychological fiction.
Classification: LCC PS3616.L389 B43 2017 (print) | LCC PS3616.L389 (ebook) | DDC 813/.6—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016032068
ISBN 978-1-5011-4695-4
ISBN 978-1-5011-4697-8 (ebook)
Bed-Stuy Is Burning Page 26