The Center for Fiction

Located across the street from BAM and between the Mark Morris Dance Center and Theatre for a New Audience, the Center for Fiction is part of a vibrant artistic renaissance taking place in Downtown Brooklyn. Like several of its neighbors, the Center—now an indie bookstore, lending library and café—has a venerable history. Founded in 1820 as the Mercantile Library of New York, the Center has hosted talks by the likes of Mark Twain, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Frederick Douglass; more recent authors to have appeared include Rivka Galchen, Edwidge Danticat and Jennifer Egan. The Center’s clean, modern design make browsing a pleasure.