Michael Seidenberg
Michael Seidenberg | |
|---|---|
| Born | 22 July 1954 Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City, U.S. |
| Died | 8 July 2019 (aged 64) |
| Occupation(s) | Writer, bookstore proprietor |
| Known for | Proprietor of BrazenHead Books, author of Unsolicited Advice for Living in the End Times |
Michael Seidenberg (July 22, 1954 – July 8, 2019) was a writer and proprietor of a bookstore based in New York City. His establishment, BrazenHead Books, functioned exclusively by appointment and was discreetly situated behind a door within his Manhattan apartment.
In 2014, Fodor's named BrazenHead Books among the "world's most beautiful bookstores." The venue frequently served as a setting for Seidenberg’s literary salons, with the New York Times characterizing the space as "more akin to a salon than a commercial enterprise." Rather than operating as a conventional bookstore, BrazenHead gained a reputation for fostering a literary environment and hosting gatherings. Novelist Porochista Khakpour remarked that BrazenHead evoked a genuine passion for literature and authorship in contrast to the growing corporatization of the literary world. Jonathan Lethem, who worked there early on, later incorporated Seidenberg as a fictional figure in two of his novels.
Seidenberg also penned a series of advice columns titled Unsolicited Advice for Living in the End Times for The New Inquiry, which were later compiled into two volumes.
Personal life
Born in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and raised throughout New York City, Seidenberg pursued drama studies at Queensborough Community College. His early career involved puppeteering; he managed a troupe from a Brooklyn storefront during the 1970s—the same location that eventually became the initial BrazenHead Books site. He was married to Nicky Roe, who formerly held the position of circulation manager at Rolling Stone.