• Making Rent in Bed-Stuy

  • A Memoir of Trying to Make It in New York City
  • By: Brandon Harris
  • Narrated by: Brandon Massey
  • Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (12 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Making Rent in Bed-Stuy  By  cover art

Making Rent in Bed-Stuy

By: Brandon Harris
Narrated by: Brandon Massey
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $22.49

Buy for $22.49

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

A young African American millennial filmmaker's funny, sometimes painful, true-life coming-of-age story of trying to make it in New York City - a chronicle of poverty and wealth, creativity and commerce, struggle and insecurity, and the economic and cultural forces intertwined with "the serious, life-threatening process" of gentrification.

Making Rent in Bed-Stuy explores the history and sociocultural importance of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn's largest historically Black community, through the lens of a coming-of-age young American negro artist living at the dawn of an era in which urban class warfare is politely referred to as gentrification. Bookended by accounts of two different breakups, from a roommate and a lover, both of who come from the White American elite, the book oscillates between chapters of urban bildungsroman and a historical examination of some of Bed-Stuy's most salient aesthetic and political legacies.

Filled with personal stories and a vibrant cast of iconoclastic characters - friends and acquaintances such as Spike Lee; Lena Dunham; and Paul MacCleod, who made a living charging $5 for a tour of his extensive Elvis collection - Making Rent in Bed-Stuy poignantly captures what happens when youthful idealism clashes head-on with adult reality.

Melding in-depth reportage and personal narrative that investigates the disappointments and ironies of the Obama era, the book describes Brandon Harris' radicalization and the things he lost and gained along the way.

©2017 Brandon Harris (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers

What listeners say about Making Rent in Bed-Stuy

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    6
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    8
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5
  • 4 Stars
    4
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Slam dunk memoir

Moving, funny, cutting, and highly perceptive. A slam dunk hybrid of journalism and memoir. A deeply useful portrait of the fundamentally racist and predatory DNA of gentrification, of America altogether.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!