Summarizing “Who Knows Brooklyn”

9 Responses to Summarizing “Who Knows Brooklyn”

1. stevenrod809 says:

   October 30, 2011 at 12:49 pm

   In the reading “Who Knows Brooklyn” by Ben McGrath, the author explains the rivalry between two Brooklyn historians. Manbeck was the borough’s official historian from 1993 to 2001. Merlis was a high school teacher in Queens. Both were Brooklyn natives. Manbeck looks down on Merlis because he never had an official position, or as he says “No one ever appointed him”. Manbeck considers Merlis an amateur and denies him of credibility. Merlis says his work may not be as popular as Manbeck’s because he does not do neighborhoods that are gentrified.

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2. rreyes150730 says:

   October 30, 2011 at 3:37 pm

   In the reading “Who Knows Brooklyn?” by Ben McGrath, from The New Yorker, two rival Brooklyn historians, very sure of themselves, put each other’s work as historians and their occupations down. Brian Merlis, a Brooklyn native, is critical of some of the books out there including John Manbeck’s work. Merlis criticized Manbeck’s work by saying his work is “better in a hearth than upon a coffee table or bookshelf.” John Manbeck, also a Brooklyn native, served as the borough’s official historian from 1993 to 2001 says that Merlis doesn’t publish good books. Merlis claims that Manbeck is always trying to mess him up by accusing him of taking other peoples work. Neither Manbeck nor Merlis is a trained historian. Manbeck use to teach journalism at Kingsborough Community College. Merlis said, “He’s a guy who cloaks himself in the robes of academia.” Merlis teaches social studies at a high school in queens. Manbeck said, “He’s an amateur”. Then he says, “He never had an official position. No one ever appointed him.”

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3. nyashasmall says:

   October 30, 2011 at 5:35 pm

   The reading “Who knows Brooklyn” by Ben McGarth is about to two Brooklyn natives in a feud with each other. Both authors write books about Brooklyn but see each other as inferior. They do not agree with each others work and they make that very clear. Merlis believes that many books are being published about Brooklyn quickly without real content just to cash in on the sales. In his quote that he says “better in hearth than upon a coffee table or bookshelf”. He is saying valuable books are kept forever than books that are popular for a short amount of time. Manbeck the other author left out Merlin’s books because he didn’t feel that they were good. Manbeck does not like Merlis because Merlis failed to get permission for material that he used. The two men constantly buck heads, they both love Brooklyn but can’t seem to come to common ground about its history.

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4. asadmahmood50 says:

   October 30, 2011 at 11:40 pm

   The reading “Who knows Brooklyn” by Ben McGrath is about a rivalry between two Brooklyn historian Manbeck and Merlis. It is very clear that they don’t like each others work and don’t get along. Manbeck use to teach journalism at Kingsborough community college and Merlis taught social studies in a high school in queens. Manbeck says that Marlis is an amateur he never had an offical position. He also said he was using materials from the kings borough community college without permission. On the other hand Merlis says Manbeck work is “better in a hearth than upon a coffee table or a bookshelf.” He also says ” local history is little old lady stuff ” “i try to add a little salsa”.

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5. Mohd.Parvez says:

   October 31, 2011 at 9:19 am

   In the story of Who knows Brooklyn by Ben Mcgrath, the author described the difference perspective views of two people, Merlis and Manbeck, and how they know Brooklyn better. “Merlis has published Eighteen books of his own, fifteen about Brooklyn”, and on the other side Manbeck published his own latest, ” Historic photos of the Brooklyn bridge.” They both are historian, however they don’t get along with each other while still living in Brooklyn. ” He’s always trying to screw me,” Merlis said of Manbeck. He thinks Manbeck doesn’t consider him as a friend. “I have an idea that he doesn’t think history is fun.” Manbeck said. And here Manbeck criticizing Merlis of not being serious. So, the author shows here that, even living in same neighborhood there’s always competition happens.

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6. Account Deleted says:

   November 1, 2011 at 7:18 pm

   In the reading of “Who Knows Brooklyn” by Ben Mcgrath, the author describes a rivalry between two Brooklyn historians. They are Manbeck and Merlis. They both don’t like each other’s works. Manbeck feel that Merlis is inferior to him because he never had an official position and Merlis look down on Manbeck because he used information from Borough Hall with out permission. They both have their own excuses for what they did. The author feels that neither man is a trained historian.

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7. tiyeblair says:

   November 2, 2011 at 10:11 pm

   In the reading “Who Knows Brooklyn” Ben McGrath shows the difference between two opposing Brooklyn native historians. Both men have a lack of respect for the others work. Manbeck considers Merlis’s work not to be creditable whereas Merlis considers Manbeeck’s work to be geared toward the excessively refined. Debating the fact of who truely knows Brooklyn better based on profession and status the men in turn just fail to conur. McGrath dislays both mens view of the other without being bias but rather very impartical.

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8. alyssahernandez says:

   November 6, 2011 at 6:18 pm

   In the reading “Who Knows Brooklyn” by Ben McGrath we read about to Brooklyn Historians who have been going after eachother. Both “historians” Manbeck and Merlis claim to be better than one another. Both have their own opinions on eachothers work. Manbeck and Merlis have been “battling” over whose the better historian mean while they both can not be really seen as historians. In the end of this reading it seems like they both kind of agree that they go to one another to learn stuff from eachother. For example in the reading it says “Manbeck says “I tease him. I said I taught him everything he knows.” then Merlis states ” But when he gets questions, whose phone rings? He calls me.” This shows that yes they might be thinking “oh I am the better historian” but in the end they both call on eachother for help

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   • Jody R. Rosen says:

     November 6, 2011 at 7:21 pm

     Manbeck and Merlis do not come to this kind of professional relationship. Reread the end of “Who Knows Brooklyn” to see who turns to each of them for information. This is an important distinction!

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