Meet Rachel Cantor, Neighbor & Author Of ‘A Highly Unlikely Scenario’

Kensington neighbor Rachel Cantor’s new novel, A Highly Unlikely Scenario, or a Neetsa Pizza Employee’s Guide to Saving the World, has been getting some great praise ahead of its release this Tuesday. A recent review in the New York Times recommended the dystopian satire to fans of Douglas Adams, Jasper Fforde, and Gary Shteyngart, and said:

While Cantor delights in strangeness and demonstrates a rakish disregard for sense, she’s not wallowing in nonsense, nor is she dishing up whimsy just for whimsy’s sake. At the center of the book, her hero is real, and his problems feel urgent.

She’ll be at Greenlight Bookstore in Fort Greene on Wednesday, January 15 at 7:30pm to celebrate the book’s release, and then she’ll be closer to home this Sunday, January 19 at 5pm at Lark for the Lit at Lark reading series. We thought we’d introduce you to one of our talented neighbors before you have a chance to meet her in person, so we asked Rachel a few questions about the book, the Lark event, and life in Kensington.

KBK: Tell us a bit about yourself and your work. How did you get into writing?

Rachel Cantor: I knew from the age of eight that I wanted to be a writer; still, I didn’t start writing seriously until I was 35. At that time I quit my job so I could live by the ocean and write — how romantic! The novel I started then was a disaster, but with the help of a few writing teachers at the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center and the Johns Hopkins University Writing Seminars, I began to find my direction. Still I wrote for many years before selling my first book, A Highly Unlikely Scenario, or a Neetsa Pizza Employee’s Guide to Saving the World.

You’ve lived around the country and have worked around the world. How did you end up settling in Kensington?

RC: I lived on the Upper West Side of Manhattan after college, before I left the city to travel, go back to school, travel some more, go back to school again, and so on. I loved New York passionately, but couldn’t see how I could both write and live here. I talked for 15 years about coming back, always bemoaning the “fact” that I couldn’t afford it, until finally one of my oldest friends gave me a talking-to, the kind of talking-to that shakes you up and makes you reconsider everything. I needed to show a bit of faith in the universe, and in myself, he said. So I did. I decided to move back.

I was at the time, however, still a Manhattanite (sorry!). I knew nothing about Brooklyn and had to learn — about its neighborhoods and many pleasures. Kind friends took me on tours and recommended this place or that place. None suggested Kensington! I stumbled on it while looking at apartments in Ditmas Park, where I had a friend. I started looking into apartments here and discovered Kensington’s incredible advantages — diverse neighbors, affordability, proximity to the park, transportation options, great groceries and restaurants in Kensington, Cortelyou, and Fort Hamilton — and then I found the perfect apartment! Now I look around at how much rents have gone up in just 2.5 years and I thank my lucky Kensington stars!

I’m guessing Neetsa Pizza may not be based on any pizza places in our area. So instead, I’d love to know: What’s your favorite pizzeria in the neighborhood?

RC: Hah! You’ll laugh when you hear that I almost never eat pizza! I do know that there are suddenly three new pizza options in the area — Wheated on Church, Lea on Cortelyou, and Fina on Fort Hamilton Parkway — all of which I want to try. A pizza renaissance!

What’s the event at Lark going to be like? Will you have copies of your book for sale?

RC: Lit at Lark is a great new reading series, and the only one that I’m aware of in our neighborhood. It takes place at the Lark Cafe on Church Ave at 5pm on the third Sunday of every month. Most readings in New York take place at 7 or 8pm, so this is a nice alternative, especially for folks who live nearby or want not to stay out too late on a school night(!). Generally, three or four authors read short sections of their latest book. They then have a brief conversation with each other, and with the audience, about their work, and answer audience questions.

And yes, the good people of WORD Bookstore will be on hand to sell books! They’ll also sell a few books that we’ve recommended, so won’t just be our books! We can always sign those books you buy at the reading. It’s a friendly, informal, fun event, which I hope people support so it stays in our neighborhood for a long, long time!

Meet Rachel and learn more about her new book at Lark (1007 Church Avenue) this Sunday, January 19 at 5pm, where she’ll be reading alongside Helen Wan, Carley Moore, and Henriette Lazaridis Power. For even more, check out a great Q&A on Rachel’s site, and follow her on Twitter and Tumblr.

Author photo by Marianne Barcellona