WITNESS: Stories, by Jamel BrinkleyThe National Book Award finalist Jamel Brinkley’s sophomore story collection, “Witness,” opens with an epigraph from James Baldwin, describing how thin the line is between a witness and an actor: “Nevertheless,” Baldwin concludes, “the line is real.” But is it? Over the course of 10 splendidly thought-provoking stories — set in Brooklyn and featuring animal rescue volunteers, florists, ghosts, UPS workers and a host of other characters — Brinkley shatters Baldwin’s thesis, masterfully demonstrating that witness and actor are one and the same. The act of witnessing is often rooted in physical sight, so an emphasis on what the eye perceives only makes sense. Throughout the collection, characters see and are seen, experiencing a kaleidoscopic range of emotions in response to being observed. “I can see your true nature now,” a woman tells her brother in “Witness,” a particularly heart-shattering story about a jobless grad student living in a cramped apartment with his ill sister and her new husband.

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Persons: Jamel Brinkley, Jamel, ”, James Baldwin, “, ” Baldwin, — Brinkley, Brinkley Locations: Brooklyn