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Friday, July 25, 2008
Frenchman Needs Help Finding Auster's Brooklyn
I got this comment from a French person who is coming to Brookllyn in search of Paul Auster's Brooklyn as mentioned in the book, Brooklyn Follies. What fun!
French, coming over to Brooklyn soon (August 2008) with family, would like to follow Nathan Glass's footsteps in Park Slope.
I was wondering whether The barbershop really exists on 7th avenue and where it is situated. Same thing with the Cosmic Diner where Nathan has lunch on 7th avenue.
I'm also after The Circle café, Mike and Tony's steak house on the corner of 5th Avenue and Carroll Street, Rocco's Trattoria, La Grenouille( a French restaurant) and eventually, The new Purity Diner on 7th avenue.
I won't have much time there so a little help could help.
The barber shop is on Seventh Avenue between 3rd and 4th Streets.
Cosmic Diner I'm not sure about that
The Circle Cafe: Hmmm. Not sure. There was a restaurant called Circles next to the Pavilion Movie Theater on Prospect Park West but I don't think that's right.
Mike and Tony's is no longer. It is now a restaurant called Moutarde (Carroll Street and Fifth Avenue)
The New Purity Diner is on 12th Street and Seventh Avenue.
La Grenouille is a French restaurant in Manhattan.
And what about the bookshop that is the centerpiece of the novel. Sadly, Park Slope Books it is no longer. It went out of business in the summer of 2007.
Monsieur, please get in touch with OTBKB when you are in town. I'd love to go looking for Auster's literary landscape with you and your family!
July 25, 2008 | Permalink
Comments
The space that is now Two Boots used to be called Circles Café. Though he later mentions the New Purity, I can't believe the Cosmic Diner isn't based on the old Purity, at Union Street. Don't forget he also mentions La Bagel Delight. Brightman's is, I think, a pure fabrication. Stores like Seventh Avenue Books and Park Slope Books came much later, and before them there were no used or rare bookstores on Seventh Avenue. Rocco's I haven't a clue about. Hope this helps a little.
Posted by: Francis Morrone | Jul 25, 2008 12:43:03 PM
The Cosmic Diner is pure invention. So is Brightman's Attic, but I always thought that Park Slope Books (the place that is now Carmen's) was the the model for it.
Posted by: Eliot | Jul 25, 2008 8:32:43 AM
