September 10 – September 15
That’s right folks, the long-awaited new book by Junot Díaz, “This Is How You Lose Her”, is finally available for purchase.
The Pulitzer Prize-Award winning author returns with a collection of short stories about love, lust, longing and infidelity. According to the always astute and funny Junot Díaz, this is the book for the cheaters or in Junot parlance the “sucios desgraciados”. I just finished the book and it is, in my humble opinion, the most enjoyable and light-hearted in the trilogy.
This week also saw the inaugural column from Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez. I am honored that the councilman will be sharing his thoughts on different issues with our readership on a regular basis. Ydanis was one of our 2011 Uptown movers and shakers and continues to be a committed and forward-thinking civil servant.
The always-informative My Inwood site recently posted a series of Postcards of the Uptown of yesteryear. Cleverly entitled “Postcards from the Edge”, the series captures an Uptown that seems, at first glance, so different from the one of today but upon further inspection it reaffirms the notion that this is a place that is in Manhattan but not of it. Always was and always will be. Kudos goes out to Cole Thompson for the great research.
I had the privilege of being in attendance on Monday, September 10th when the Queen Alicia Keys held court at the 92 Y for an intimate and wide-ranging conversation with Jonathan Tisch. Washington Heights resident, folk artist and freegan, GioSafari, has released his first full-length opus. Heliotropism, which dropped on September 17th, is strongly influenced by the OWS movement with ample doses of spirituality and anti-consumerism for good measure.
Sonia Manzano of Sesame Street fame was at La Casa Azul Bookstore (143 E. 103rd Street) recently to read from her upcoming book, The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano. The super talented journalist Amaris Castillo was there to cover it for the Uptown Collective. We ended the week with an excellent report from Angela Bao Beibei on what qualifications are needed to be a Special Education teacher in our schools. The story is an eye-opener to say the least. This is Angela’s first story for the Uptown Collective.
Keep checking us out at www.uptowncollective.com.
Led Black
Editor-in-Chief
The Uptown Collective
The UC’s mission is to become “the” definitive, transformative and community-based force impacting the arts, culture, business and New York City’s overall perception of Upper Manhattan. Its objective is to reset, reboot and positively redefine Uptown’s artistic, political, cultural and business spheres via the online space as well the collective’s initiatives and functions.
