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January 10, 2012
Controversy as Muse–Atlantic Yards-Inspired Art
Brooklyn Based
by Jordan Galloway
An article about Atlantic Yards-themed art ends on an, ahem, curious note, with reporter/fabulist Stephen Witt comparing himself to Jonathan Safran Foer and Dostoevsky.
Stephen Witt, a writer and AY-reporter for the Brooklyn Daily blog, is currently fine-tuning what he says is the seventh of eight drafts of The Street Singer, a satirical novel about AY and the artistic community of Brooklyn. He plans on self-publishing it in June if it fails to find a publisher before then and calls his work a roman a clef of his early life as a street musician in the city, re-set in the six months leading up to the arena’s ground breaking.
“I think it works really good as a satire,” he said. “A lot of journalists and artists really beat me up over my coverage of Atlantic Yards. I think history will show I covered it right.” When asked whether he’s capitalizing on the situation with the Barclays Center set to open in September, his response was succinct. “Absolutely,” said Witt. “It’s a timely novel. I am definitely capitalizing on it. It’s timely. It’s a news angle. I’m capitalizing on it in the same way [Jonathan Safran Foer] capitalized on the World Trade Center with Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.” He added, “Dostoevsky used to take ideas from the newspaper. My say is as good as anyone else’s say.”
NoLandGrab: "It think it works really good?" We're guessing eight (drafts) isn't enough.
Posted by eric at January 10, 2012 2:03 PM