Download or read book Brooklyn Boomer written by Martin H. Levinson and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 2011-05-20 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Martin H. Levinson lived in Brooklyn from his birth in 1946 to 1962, the height of the baby boom following World War II. He grew up two blocks from Ebbets Field, the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers, and attended Erasmus Hall High School, which boasts alums such as Neil Diamond, Barbra Streisand, and chess-wiz Bobby Fischer. The author's personal recollections of his middle-class childhood in Brooklyn during the 1950s alternate with chapters detailing seminal cultural events of that era including the advent of television, fast-food restaurants, big cars with fins; desegregation and the white flight to the suburbs; rock and roll, beatniks, hula hoops, The Kinsey Reports, the Cold War, McCarthyism, Playboy, and much more. Part memoir, part social history, Brooklyn Boomer offers a captivating portrait of Brooklyn and America in the mid-twentieth Century.

Download or read book It Happened in Brooklyn written by Myrna Frommer and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mid-century Brooklyn was the home of the Dodgers, stoop-ball and stick-ball, a booming Coney Island amusement scene, and some of the best high schools in America. It also had a more somber side: gangs, red-lining, and block-busting. In this spirited evocation, more than one hundred voices reflect on the three decades in the borough between World War II and the Viet Nam War. Earthy and humorous, poignant and nostalgic, this book is an album, chronicle, and celebration of the Brooklyn of legend. Illustrated with period photographs.

Download or read book Growing Up Brooklyn written by Tony Palermo and published by . This book was released on 2017-08-31 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Childhood memories become warm and rose colored, "and that's as it should be," so said an old friend of mine who shared more than a few with me. Mine, too, are warm and rose colored; but also vivid. Yes, I really do remember being in a crib. Folks challenge me on that once in a while. But for how much longer, I'm not sure. Once the mental concrete hardens, I'll be left with what I can glean from pictures and second hand accounts. So I wrote this book. And of course, one memory led to another. Eleven years of them, the ones I spent growing up Brooklyn. What follows are the good stories of the people who mattered - still matter - to me. Today more than ever, I look at them with warm, rose colored sight, content that my earliest memories are true and valuable.

Download or read book Surviving the Warzone written by Richard Quarantello and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2013-07-19 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: I could feel blood pouring from my nose and lips, my eyes opened slowly with a side long glance and a flash of my eyes I could see this burly man with this thick neck and a dark deep scared face sitting on me striking down on me with lefts and rights. I always believed by striking me he cleared the cob webs from my brain. As soon as my head cleared a little, I quickly grabbed him by his face pulling him down to me, biting him on his face. Holding him with my left banging him with short right hands, I tried to rip him off me by reaching around with my left hand and grabbing his mouth, he bit down on my fingers ripping off two finger nails. I just remember him being so heavy, I was gasping for breath I was spent I felt myself going, I could sense there was an all out war going on around me.

Download or read book Bernie s Brooklyn written by Theodore Hamm and published by . This book was released on 2020-05-13 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bernie Sanders' tilt at the US presidency has come under fire from an establishment that derides his social democratic policies as alien to the American way. But, as Ted Hamm reveals in this engaging and concise history, the sort of socialism Bernie advocates was commonplace in the Brooklyn where he grew up in the 1940s and 50s. Policies like free college tuition, rent control, and infrastructure projects including extensive public housing, parks and swimming pools were part of the New Deal city run by a progressive Mayor, Fiorello La Guardia, and supported by FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt. While Arthur Miller, resident in Brooklyn Heights, was staging Death of a Salesman, a play with which Bernie's dad closely identified, Woody Guthrie was penning his paeans to the American worker in Coney Island and Jackie Robinson was breaking the color bar on Ebbets Field in a Dodgers team yet to be relocated in California. Drawing deeply on interviews with his brother and friends, and delving skillfully into the history of the borough, Bernie's Brooklyn shows how, far from being an anomaly in US politics, Sanders' 2020 platform is rooted firmly in the progressivism of the New Deal.

Download or read book A Boy in Brooklyn written by Adolf Hansena and published by Adolf Hansen. This book was released on 2022-02 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A COLONY OF SOCIAL TRUST In the middle of the last century, 62,000 Norwegian immigrants and their families dominated a section of Bay Ridge, a neighborhood in the borough of Brooklyn. Their primary distinction was expressed through social trust, a characteristic that is often uncommon today throughout this country and around the world. Adolf Hansen was born into this colony and lived there until he graduated from high school. His experience of trust began during his preschool years with trust in his mother and father; continued with trust in others in the colony throughout his time in grade school; developed trust more fully within himself in junior high, as others trusted him; and then evolved in his trust in God, and God's trust in him in high school. This development of social trust was not unique to this predominantly Protestant colony. It was replicated in the lives of his peers and their families, as well as thousands of others in the colony. Similar experiences were also present in the lives of Italian Catholics and Eastern European Jews with whom he connected in the neighborhood. Experiences of social trust are at the core of this book!

Download or read book The Parkslopian written by Robert A. Henriksen and published by Robert a Henriklsen. This book was released on 2014-10-09 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Did you grow up in Park Slope, Brooklyn? Do you yearn for the old days, and wish you could have a more permanent scrapbook of the toys and games and mom and pop stores from your childhood? The genesis for The Parkslopian came out of a desire to broaden the scope of the memoir genre to allow the reader to place him or herself into the story, or to use it as a tool to share his or her childhood with loved ones. The memoir genre is criticized for being narcissistic-who cares about the memories of one non-famous person? Therefore, the series of Brooklyn neighborhood coffee table books that includes The Parkslopian was developed in order to crowdsource and compile recollections of times long past using modern social media. Rather than limiting the story of Brooklyn in the 1950s through the 1980s to one person's flawed memory, The Parkslopian is a compilation of stories about the treasured and iconic things that shaped the childhoods (and parenthoods) of those who lived in Brooklyn during the most fascinating era of the twentieth century. This coffee table book is divided into entertaining and bite-sized pieces, and does not need to be read cover to cover. It allows you to share your memories of Park Slope with your friends who grew up elsewhere, and compare the iconic things that were shared throughout the nation while contrasting the special elements that made the Park Slope heritage unique. It is a smorgasbord of reminiscences to last you and your loved ones years-an infusion of the past into a lengthy future. After the 1980s came to an end, a generation of yuppies started moving into Park Slope, driving up prices and driving out longtime residents. They may call themselves "Park Slopers" and believe that they saved the neighborhood from itself, but true Parkslopians have a much longer, richer relationship with the neighborhood and its former community. Are you a Park Sloper or a Parkslopian? Either way, your connection to the neighborhood is truly your own, but this book will help you and those you love recognize the building blocks that fed every single one of those relationships and ultimately tied them together. The rich history that preceded Park Slope's current state must not be forgotten, and The Parkslopian endeavors to keep the past alive, if only on the page. The purchase of this book, and the others in the series, will allow you to witness firsthand how the revolution of social media truly keeps us all connected-first to our own roots, then to our new friends. By using a language today's kids will understand, you can better share with your children what your childhood was like before Park Slope changed forever. It may be more expensive to live there now, but Parkslopians know that Park Slope's worth has long been established-and the reasons are now in print for the very first time. Join the fun by giving this book a prized perch in your home, and visit www.parkslopian.com for more information on Brooklyn and more nostalgia.

Download or read book Growing Up Greenpoint written by Tommy Carbone and published by . This book was released on 2018-05-08 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "An entertaining memoir that reads like a sitcom." "Made me laugh until tears were coming down my face." In Growing up Greenpoint, Tommy Carbone captures what it was like to be a kid during the 1970s and 80s in Brooklyn, New York. This funny, and sometimes emotional, memoir follows the years Tommy was educated not only in the classrooms of St. Stan's, but on the streets of Greenpoint. It was there, playing street games with friends, being cornered by muggers, playing kissing games with the girls, spending time with family, and constantly seeking out the best snack foods in the neighborhood, where Tommy learned a lot about life; although he may not have known it at the time. A simple conversation, years later, about the New York City Blackout of 1977 sparks Tommy to recall his youth in the city he loved. His stories will bring you into the action of what it was like to dodge cars during a ballgame, to take a hike to another borough in search of a particular burger, to the hours spent playing pinball in a corner candy store, and how special it was to build traditions with three generations of Polish and Italian relatives in Brooklyn's garden spot. The vivid descriptions of his antics of what it was like to grow up during those years will transport you to the sounds and smells of living in the city during those trying years. Reading this book, you'll be entertained, and at the same time, you may shake your head wondering how Tommy ever survived - Growing up in Greenpoint.

Download or read book Tomorrow Will Be Better written by Betty Smith and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2020-11-24 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A rediscovered treasure." — Maureen Corrigan, Washington Post From Betty Smith, author of the beloved classic A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, comes a poignant story of love, marriage, poverty, and hope set in 1920s Brooklyn. Tomorrow Will Be Better tells the story of Margy Shannon, a shy but joyfully optimistic young woman just out of school who lives with her parents and witnesses how a lifetime of hard work, poverty, and pain has worn them down. Her mother's resentment toward being a housewife and her father's inability to express his emotions result in a tense home life where Margy has no voice. Unable to speak up against her overbearing mother, Margy takes refuge in her dreams of a better life. Her goals are simple—to find a husband, have children, and live in a nice home—one where her children will never know the terror of want or the need to hide from quarreling parents. When she meets Frankie Malone, she thinks her dreams might be fulfilled, but a devastating loss rattles her to her core and challenges her life-long optimism. As she struggles to come to terms with the unexpected path her life has taken, Margy must decide whether to accept things as they are or move firmly in the direction of what she truly wants. Rich with the flavor of its Brooklyn background, and filled with the joys and heartbreak of family life, Tomorrow Will Be Better is told with a simplicity, tenderness, and warmhearted humor that only Betty Smith could write.

Download or read book Growing Up Golem written by Donna Minkowitz and published by . This book was released on 2013-09 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the tradition of Portnoy's Complaint and Alison Bechdel's Fun Home, Donna Minkowitz's Growing Up Golem is an incisive, often funny memoir about growing up inspired by the Jewish legend of the golem. The author's mother told Minkowitz and her sisters as children that she could do kabalistic magic, and growing up, Minkowitz believed it. Her mother, a compulsively creative and unusually powerful figure, exerted even more sway over Minkowitz and her sisters than mothers typically do over their offspring, so it is the "magical realist" premise of the book that instead of giving birth to her, her mother actually created Minkowitz as her own personal golem: a little clay servant designed to do anything it is ordered to. In the book, Minkowitz struggles to control her own life, even as she publicly appears to be a radical, take-no-prisoners lesbian journalist. In her career, dating, even with friends - and especially with her own eccentric, hyper-sexualized, intellectual family - Minkowitz finds herself compelled to do what other people want, to horrible and hilarious effect. In sex, for example, she often feels like "a giant robot dildo." Matters come to a head when a disabling arm injury renders her almost helpless - unable to use a computer or even lift a glass of water. She must find a way to work, find people who love her, and stand up for her own desires - against the bossing she's always tolerated from girlfriends, mother, and anyone else she meets - before her injury gets even worse.

Download or read book The President Street Boys written by Frank Dimatteo and published by Kensington Books. This book was released on 2016-07-26 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This true crime memoir of 1950s Brooklyn shares a revealing look at life inside the Mafia at the height of its power. Frank Dimatteo was born into a family of mob hitmen. His father and godfather were shooters and bodyguards for infamous Mafia legends the Gallo brothers. His uncle was a capo in the Genovese crime family and bodyguard to Frank Costello. With family connections like those, Frank knew everybody in the neighborhood—and they knew him. After dropping out of high school, Frank lived gangster-style with the boys on President Street. In this lively memoir, Frank tells it like it really was growing up in the mob. He shares wild stories about everyone from the old-school Mafia dons and infamous “five families” to the new-breed “independents” who didn’t answer to nobody. He had a front row seat as the Gallo gang waged war against wiseguys with more power, more money, and more guns. And he reveals the shocking deathbed confessions that will blow the lid off the sordid deeds, stunning betrayals, and all-too-secret history of the American Mafia. The President Street Boys was originally self-published as Lion in the Basement.

Download or read book Invisible Child written by Andrea Elliott and published by Random House. This book was released on 2021-10-05 with total page 640 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • A “vivid and devastating” (The New York Times) portrait of an indomitable girl—from acclaimed journalist Andrea Elliott “From its first indelible pages to its rich and startling conclusion, Invisible Child had me, by turns, stricken, inspired, outraged, illuminated, in tears, and hungering for reimmersion in its Dickensian depths.”—Ayad Akhtar, author of Homeland Elegies ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Atlantic, The New York Times Book Review, Time, NPR, Library Journal In Invisible Child, Pulitzer Prize winner Andrea Elliott follows eight dramatic years in the life of Dasani, a girl whose imagination is as soaring as the skyscrapers near her Brooklyn shelter. In this sweeping narrative, Elliott weaves the story of Dasani’s childhood with the history of her ancestors, tracing their passage from slavery to the Great Migration north. As Dasani comes of age, New York City’s homeless crisis has exploded, deepening the chasm between rich and poor. She must guide her siblings through a world riddled by hunger, violence, racism, drug addiction, and the threat of foster care. Out on the street, Dasani becomes a fierce fighter “to protect those who I love.” When she finally escapes city life to enroll in a boarding school, she faces an impossible question: What if leaving poverty means abandoning your family, and yourself? A work of luminous and riveting prose, Elliott’s Invisible Child reads like a page-turning novel. It is an astonishing story about the power of resilience, the importance of family and the cost of inequality—told through the crucible of one remarkable girl. Winner of the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize • Finalist for the Bernstein Award and the PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award

Download or read book My Brooklyn My Way written by Martin Lewis Blumberg and published by Xlibris Us. This book was released on 2020-01-15 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There must be something in our souls that cries out to explain to the world not only who we are but also how it was we got to be the person our friends and family know and love. For Martin Blumberg, the path of explaining himself to the world begins by understanding the way the world around him influenced his experiences and choices and how he interacted with family, friends, teachers, and neighborhood businesses as he grew up in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn. What puzzles us all is the mystery of how the kids we grew up with in those same surroundings went on to become either well-educated and respected professionals and businessmen, or gangsters and incarcerated criminals. Ultimately, growing up is a never-ending series of choices and interactions, some good, some not so, but ultimately, in balance, the better choices lead us to the happiness and self-satisfaction we enjoy, along with our many accomplishments. My dear friend Marty Blumberg has traveled a fascinating and unique path as he grew up in Brownsville and then to Canarsie neighborhoods, which colored and influenced his early life and molded him to become the great guy we all know and love. This is Martin's story, and it beautifully explains him to all of us, and, no doubt, through his introspections and insights, most importantly, explains him to himself. -Roger Elowitz

Download or read book A Tomato Grows in Brooklyn written by David Ruggerio and published by . This book was released on 2021-10-12 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Renowned chef and author David Ruggerio takes you back to Brooklyn and introduces you to the Italian-American experience and cuisine he knows, grew up with, and adores. This humble cuisine reflects a beautiful narrative of joy, sadness, fatigue but always rich in humanity and heritage. A TOMATO GROWS IN BROOKLYN is full of luscious pictures with more than 135 recipes that will make your mouth water. With a bite of Involtini of Eggplant, a taste of Octopus in Warm Vinaigrette, a forkful of Carbonara of Artichoke, a morsel of Gnocchi all'Amatriciana, or a mouthful of Panna Cotta of Orange, Caramel and Figs, you will discover what makes the Italian American cuisine of Brooklyn unique.

Download or read book Before I Grew Up written by John Miller and published by Enchanted Lion Books. This book was released on 2021-10-05 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A story of childhood dreams and adventures, and of the parental love that in seeing you, nourishes you to become yourself.

Download or read book Play Jimmy Roselli written by Kenneth Uva and published by . This book was released on 2021-05-28 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a novel about the conflict between the Italian American roots and the desire to be a real "American" for a young boy growing up in Brooklyn in the 1950s.

Download or read book Stories From A Brooklyn Stoop written by James DeLaura and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2019-09-26 with total page 315 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Good memories are such a nice thing to have. They live in all of us, but all too often we don't take the time to reminisce or share them with others. In "Stories From A Brooklyn Stoop," the author's experiences growing up in Brooklyn, New York are retold in his warm-hearted and vivid memoir. The 1950's and 60's was a wonderful time for a kid to grow up in Brooklyn. It was the post-World War II era when children matured fast, but still had the freedom to play, explore, and learn like no other generation before.Like a satisfying meal, the book's stories leave the reader with a feel-good aftertaste and desire to move on to the next course. It's a book that will invoke your own memories with every passing chapter. You'll find it hard to resist saying, "Hey, I did that." Enjoy and remember!