Brian Platzer, THE BODY POLITIC

Brian Platzer is the author of The Body Politic and Bed-Stuy Is Burning. His writing has appeared in The New Yorker, McSweeney’s, The New York Times, The New Republic, and Salon, among other publications. The Body Politic is an incredibly savvy novel about a group of four friends who first meet after September 11th, but the narrative begins right after the 2016 election. Secrets, confrontation, and forgiveness are central - as is a deep first-person account of having a neurological disorder from one of the central characters. It really sets the novel apart, and listening to Brian talk about how it was based on his own neurological disorder infuses it with even more meaning. We had a really enlightening talk about vocabulary and self-advocacy around chronic illness, the delicate nature of entering into somebody else's "dark space" to help, and tipping points that prompt us to open up and take action.