If all you knew about Williamsburg came from the media, you’d think the entire area was overrun with shiny new condos and over-privileged hipsters. Yes, those are facts of life in the area, to a degree. But for longtime residents, such as author Jami Attenberg, the neighborhood’s charms are a bit subtler. The long-time Brooklyn resident set her new novel "The Kept Man" (Riverhead Books) amongst her favorite haunts in the area.

By setting her book in Williamsburg circa summer 2005, Attenburg has created a beautiful record of her ever evolving ‘hood at a specific moment in time, while also populating the book with believable neighborhood characters (the story revolves around Jarvis, a former party girl, whose artist husband has been in a coma for six years). Earlier this week, Metromix hopped on the L train to visit with Attenberg and learn about some of the neighborhood spots that served as inspiration for the book.

← Click on the photo gallery to see our tour of Williamsburg with Jami Attenburg