"I didn’t tell anybody what to write,"
Reed Farrel Coleman, editor of "Hard Boiled Brooklyn,"
told GO Brooklyn. "These are all their own ideas. I said,
’Here’s a word count; make it scream Brooklyn and do your best
work.’ "
The result of Coleman’s literary leadership is a collection of
17 chilling stories firmly anchored in the borough’s neighborhoods,
which are more likely to be appreciated by natives and residents
than, say, the Brooklyn Tourism Council.
"That’s why it’s called ’Hard Boiled Brooklyn,’ and not
’Bring Your Kids on a Sunny Sunday to Brooklyn,’ " said
Coleman, the executive vice president of the Mystery Writers
of America. "It’s both a place of light and dark. I would
never have chosen to grow up anywhere else than where I grew
up. I love Brooklyn."
The Ocean Parkway native, who spent his childhood cavorting through
Sheepshead Bay, Coney Island and Brighton Beach, has since moved
to Long Island, where he lives with his wife and their two teenagers.
But Coleman is able to return to his old stomping grounds with
his award-winning mystery series character, Moe Prager, who "lives"
in Sheepshead Bay.
"I love it, because I get to live there in my head again,"
said the 50-year-old author, who’s recently been avalanched by
award nominations for his latest Prager novel, "The James
Deans."
"Moe sort of takes the prototypical white guy-Christian-loner-alcoholic-private-eye
and turns [the stereotype] on its ear, because he is a happily
married, family man with a successful career. It’s very literate
and philosophical, which means that the critics love it and fans
won’t buy it," explained Coleman with a laugh.
And love it they do. "The James Deans" was nominated
for the Mystery Writers of America Edgar, the Private Eye Writers
of America’s Shamus, the Mystery Readers’ Macavity, Deadly Pleasures’
Barry, Bouchercon’s Anthony and Mystery Ink’s Gumshoe awards.
Despite the critical acclaim for the Moe Prager series, Coleman
has invented yet another protagonist, Joe Serpe (pronounced SIR-pee)
for his new series that will be launched this fall under the
nom de plume Tony Spinosa.
Also under the Spinosa moniker, Coleman contributed the short
story "Killing O’Malley" to "Hard Boiled Brooklyn,"
which is one of several stories in the collection that deals
matter-of-factly with racism in Kings County.
"[When I was young,] racist code words weren’t used in my
house, but next door, ’nigger’ and ’spic’ were commonly used
words," recalled Coleman. "I suffered from anti-Semitism
when I was growing up, but in Brooklyn, you weren’t as sensitive
to it, because it was such a part of the fabric of life. People
were not as highly charged by it. But that’s a long time ago.
"I’m not saying it was a good thing, but it wasn’t whispered
about. People were just openly racist. It’s not a writer’s job
to say whether that’s healthy or less healthy, but it’s our job
to say it certainly existed."
Whether the stories in the anthology feature a heavily pregnant
landlord being tormented by her tenant (Naomi Rand’s "House
Envy" set on Bergen Street) or a divorced father who has
custody of his son for the day and loses him on the F train to
Coney Island (Peter Blauner’s "Going, Going, Gone"),
"these stories hit home," said Coleman.
"Blauner is a very harrowing writer, and I felt that if
I put his story first, people would feel, ’Oh my god, this is
the first story? I won’t be able to read anymore,’ " said
Coleman of the piece he chose to end the collection. "Because
you’ve been built up to it by that point, it really finishes
with a bang."
Blauner will join Coleman and fellow "Hard Boiled Brooklyn"
contributor Gabriel Cohen (who curates the Sundays at Sunny’s
author series in Red Hook), for a reading at Park Slope’s Night
and Day restaurant on Sunday, Oct. 8.
"This is entertainment," said Coleman. "Even dark
stuff should be fun and people should enjoy it. If they don’t,
I’ll come and kick each of their asses personally. After all,
you can take me out of Brooklyn, but it’s hard to take the Brooklyn
out of me."
Editor Reed Farrel Coleman will read
from "Hard Boiled Brooklyn" (Bleak House Books, $15.95)
at Night and Day (230 Fifth Ave. at President Street in Park
Slope) on Oct. 8 from 6 to 8 pm. Coleman will be joined by fellow
contributors Gabriel Cohen and Peter Blauner. There is no cover
but there is a $7 food or drink minimum. For more information,
call (718) 399-2161.
