A Bintel Brief: Love and Longing in Old New York
“[One] the most powerful books I’ve read so far this year… Finck’s illustrations intensify the emotional resonance of these letters, invoking the buoyant magic of Marc Chagall, but also sometimes descending into the cramped world of the tenements.” (NPR's Fresh Air)“[Finck] brings an entirely new dimension to what has become, for modern readers, a portal into a world that feels impossibly distant.” (The Paris Review (online review))Taken together, even just these 11 letters provide an invaluable sooty window onto life on the Lower East Side…. “A Bintel Brief” makes you positively hungry to read comparable letters to American immigrant newspapers around the country right now.” (New York Times)“[A] sharp, evocative style that reminds me sometimes of Ben Katchor and other times of Roz Chast. Finck’s book is more than a collection of advice columns, though-it’s an imaginative leap into the art of nostalgia…I really lovedA Bintel Brief.” (Slate)“A wonderfully illustrated gem of a book…I’ve read that story several times over the years, but rarely savored it quite the way I did with Finck’s book. This is because of the drawings.” (Tablet)“[A] rich, hilarious and authentic fable. …Finck’s versatility and imagination makes this book a delight.” (Miami Herald)