'Building Material' is the memoir of a Park Avenue doorman

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Books, Arts

4.2 • 672 Ratings

🗓️ 9 October 2024

⏱️ 8 minutes

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Summary

Stephen Bruno is a doorman for a high-end building on Manhattan's Park Avenue, where he's worked for 14 years. Bruno says that while he treats every occupant like his boss, he routinely blurs professional boundaries by forming close friendships with his residents. Now, those friendships–and the many other stories from Bruno's building–form the basis of his new memoir, Building Material. In today's episode, Bruno speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about taking notes on the job, breaking the "don't get close rule," and a documentary about August Wilson that saved his writing career.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's Empire's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. There's something sweet about the relationships you cultivate through micro interactions.
0:10.2	Like, there's this guy I wave to on my morning runs, and if I don't see him for a few days, I get worried, and then I see him and I give him an extra big wave.
0:19.2	And sometimes those small, daily interactions turn into something bigger.
0:25.2	That's what happened with Stefan Bruno.
0:27.1	He was a doorman in a fancy-pants area of New York City and ended up forming some real
0:31.7	bonds with the people he'd see day in and day out.
0:34.8	He wrote about these people in his new book, Building Material.
0:38.2	And in this interview with NPR Scott Simon, he talks about one particular person who kind of opened the door
0:44.2	to the life he lives now. That's ahead. In the U.S., national security news can feel far away
0:51.2	from daily life. Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors.
0:56.9	On our new show, Sources and Methods.
0:58.9	NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people
1:02.2	helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.
1:06.5	Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
1:12.0	Walk down New York's Tony Park Avenue and you can see doorman, often in long coats and stiff hats, winter and summer.
1:20.0	They can offer tight smiles and professional greetings to the residents to whom they opened the front door to posh surroundings on what might be the
1:28.1	pricest residential block in America. Do they keep secrets under their caps, too?
1:34.6	Stephen Bruno, who's a graduate of John Jay College and Hunter College's Master of Fine Arts
1:39.8	program, kept metal notes over his years as a Park Avenue Dorman, and he's now written his
1:45.9	first book, Building Material, the memoir of a Park Avenue Dorman. Stefan Bruno joins us now from our
1:52.9	studios in New York. Thanks so much for being with us. Thank you so much for having me, sir.
1:57.4	Is being a dormant a good material for someone who wants to write? Yeah, I would say so. Aside from it
	...

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