Many thanks to Ricky Gerhardt of the library for arranging and hosting the event. We enjoyed the boardwalk scene and did not visit any casinos.
Is he teaching science or the alphabet? In fact, Louis Greenstein was discussing Mr. Boardwalk and related topics with an enthusiastic audience at the Atlantic City Free Public Library yesterday. Comments ranged across topics like the influence of the casinos and the future of shore towns as well as literary matters such as how to write descriptions that give the reader the sense of actually being there.
Many thanks to Ricky Gerhardt of the library for arranging and hosting the event. We enjoyed the boardwalk scene and did not visit any casinos.
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Nice article in the Press of Atlantic City about Louis Greenstein and the writing of his novel Mr. Boardwalk. Click on the image to go to the full story.
Louis will be appearing at the Atlantic City Free Public Library, 1 North Tennessee Avenue, at 2:00 this Saturday, August 30. Great weather predicted. Hit the beach in the morning, bring your sandy feet to the library to hear Louis, then stop at a casino to win the gas money for your trip home! A new review of Mr. Boardwalk on Amazon, from "CO Girl": I couldn't put it down -- it made me cry, made me laugh and always made me want to see what happens next. Loved it! We guess CO Girl is from Colorado, which goes to show that you don't have to be a Jersey Shore aficionado to find the book fascinating.
If you're hangin' near Atlantic City this coming weekend, don't miss the chance to see Mr. Boardwalk (that is, Louis Greenstein, author of the novel of the same name) return to the haunts where the book is set.
Louis will be at the Atlantic City Free Public Library, 1 North Tennessee Ave., at 2:00 Saturday. That's close to the beach, the boardwalk, the Irish Pub, Ripley's Believe It or Not -- all the good stuff! Oh, and the casinos too. "Money spent on a book brings greater value than money inserted in a slot machine." Some classical economist said that, we forget who. Latest five-star Amazon review of Mr. Boardwalk: This is an amazing book. A wonderful recreation of a time and place. It's not about Atlantic City. It's about life. Happy, sad, bittersweet. It even has a touch of magic in it. I hope this author continues to write. Enjoy it. The reviewer is M. Kramer, who has also reviewed The Penguin History of the World (1,189 pages). We're impressed that M. found the time to read our little 300-page novel. And grateful, of course, for the praise! About the "touch of magic" in the book: Here's a comment from Jimmy, the novel's sage and smelly wise man (a counterpart to Rabbi Greenblatt, who is also sage but not smelly). Jason, the narrator, has been bugging Jimmy to explain a seemingly magical event that keeps recurring in Jason's life: "If you don't know how," I asked, "can you tell me why?" A lovely review of Mr. Boardwalk in the New York Journal of Books, written by Debra Leigh Scott, waxes lyrical about the meaning of protagonist Jason Benson's adventures. If you're too busy to follow the link to the whole article, here are some excerpts: With jobs disappearing as casinos declare bankruptcy, Atlantic City in 2014 teeters on the brink of a plunge into darkness. But the Atlantic City Jason shares with his wife and daughter is the Atlantic City of his youth, when he lived and worked at the beach in his father’s soft pretzel store, where his family had close, trusting relationships with the owners of other stores, arcades, restaurants. Yes, it was a little seedy. Yes, it was down-at-the-heels. But everything existed on a human scale, and lives were interwoven in ways that created deep and lasting bonds.... "With as many as four casinos shutting down in Atlantic City by the end of September, New Jersey is suddenly awash in plans for, well, more casinos." --The New York Times When will politicians and their business cronies stop believing in "revenue-generating machines"? To counter this silliness, we offer a passage from Mr. Boardwalk in which a teenage Jason Benson tries to impress his girlfriend's snooty mother. What he comes out with can be taken as a paean to modest family businesses, the opposite of the glitzy mega-corps and their slick-haired boosters: I cleared my throat. "I just wanted to introduce myself," I began, "and see if it would be okay for Sarah and me to be friends and hang out after school once in a while and maybe go to a movie sometimes on a Friday or Saturday night. We'll be home early. You can drive us, or my dad can if you're too busy." Pretty clever, I thought, asking her to drive, as if she actually would. Latest review of Mr. Boardwalk on Goodreads, from "Sallie": I really enjoyed this book. I remember so many of the places and events that he mentions in this book. All the locations were described accurately. Hard to believe this is the author's first novel. Great debut. And the latest update of appearances, formal reviews, etc.:
Dates to be announced:
Thursday, 9/25: Reading and book signing at Penn Book Center, 130 S. 34th Street, Philadelphia, PA, 6:00 p.m. Saturday, 8/30: Reading and book signing at Atlantic City Free Public Library, 1 North Tennessee Avenue, Atlantic City, NJ, 2:00 p.m. Past Events Thursday, 8/7: Reading and book signing as part of "Down the Shore" event, with photographer Michael M. Koehler and Zsa's Ice Cream Truck, at Big Blue Marble Bookstore, 551 Carpenter Lane, Philadelphia, PA, 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, 8/2: Review on "Svetlana's Reads and Views" Sunday, 7/27: Reading and book signing at The Quadrangle, 3300 Darby Road, Haverford, PA, 2:00 p.m. Saturday, 7/19: Appearance and book signing at "Celebrating Philly Publishers!", Musehouse: A Center for the Literary Arts, 7924 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19118 Monday, 7/14: Review in Cleaver Magazine Wednesday, 6/18: Official book launch party, with reading and book signing, at Head House Books, 619 S. 2nd Street, Philadelphia, PA, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 6/12: Reading and book signing at Main Point Books, 1041 West Lancaster Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA, 7:00 p.m. Monday, 6/9: Review in The Piker Press Wednesday, 6/4: Guest post by Louis, "Three Things I Learned About Writing From My Day Jobs," on Maryann Miller's blog Monday, 6/2: Maryann Miller discusses other work by Louis Greenstein in her Monday Morning Musings Sunday, 6/1: Book review on Maryann Miller's blog, "It's Not All Gravy" Thursday, May 8: Advance review in Philadelphia Review of Books Monday, March 17: Advance review in Small Press Reviews Tonight, August 7, Louis Greenstein will discuss Mr. Boardwalk at Big Blue Marble Bookstore in the Mt. Airy neighborhood of Philly. Sharing the bill will be photographer Michael Koehler, whose photos of shore scenes in Seaside and Seaside Heights turned suddenly into a memorial project when Hurricane Sandy walloped the area. Koehler has assembled the photos in a lovely and moving book aptly titled Seaside.
For those not familiar with Mt. Airy, we can offer a few pointers:
Upcoming Events for Mr. Boardwalk Dates to be announced:
Thursday, 9/25: Reading and book signing at Penn Book Center, 130 S. 34th Street, Philadelphia, PA, 6:00 p.m. Saturday, 8/30: Reading and book signing at Atlantic City Free Public Library, 1 North Tennessee Avenue, Atlantic City, NJ, 2:00 p.m. Wednesday, 8/13: Guest post by Louis Greenstein at "Chaotic Compendiums: The Place to Find Your Next Book" Tuesday, 8/12: Review by "Chaotic Compendiums: The Place to Find Your Next Book" Thursday, 8/7: Reading and book signing as part of "Down the Shore" event, with photographer Michael M. Koehler and Zsa's Ice Cream Truck, at Big Blue Marble Bookstore, 551 Carpenter Lane, Philadelphia, PA, 7:00 p.m. Past Events Tuesday, 8/2: Review on "Svetlana's Reads and Views" Sunday, 7/27: Reading and book signing at The Quadrangle, 3300 Darby Road, Haverford, PA, 2:00 p.m. Saturday, 7/19: Appearance and book signing at "Celebrating Philly Publishers!", Musehouse: A Center for the Literary Arts, 7924 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19118 Monday, 7/14: Review in Cleaver Magazine Wednesday, 6/18: Official book launch party, with reading and book signing, at Head House Books, 619 S. 2nd Street, Philadelphia, PA, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 6/12: Reading and book signing at Main Point Books, 1041 West Lancaster Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA, 7:00 p.m. Monday, 6/9: Review in The Piker Press Wednesday, 6/4: Guest post by Louis, "Three Things I Learned About Writing From My Day Jobs," on Maryann Miller's blog Monday, 6/2: Maryann Miller discusses other work by Louis Greenstein in her Monday Morning Musings Sunday, 6/1: Book review on Maryann Miller's blog, "It's Not All Gravy" Thursday, May 8: Advance review in Philadelphia Review of Books Monday, March 17: Advance review in Small Press Reviews Latest Facebook comment on Mr. Boardwalk: OMG ... it's great!!! I can't put it down, it's well written, spellbinding! It should be made into a movie. OMG! We anticipate a strong competition among middle-aged character actors for the part of Jimmy the Gypsy entrepreneur and philosopher, who offers young Jason Benson mystifying advice about girls. Here's Jimmy explaining how he met his wife, My Edna: He leaned across the table and lowered his voice. "Actually, I was bangin' her big sister. But then one day I'm over the house, I see this scrawny little fourteen-year-old nuthin' hunched over a sewing machine in the kitchen. 'I didn't know you had a sister,' I say to my girl. I look over at the kid sister and she looks at me. She smiles, I smile. We're all smiles. You ever notice My Edna's smile? Well, before ya know it, the older sister's history even though her tits were bigger." Jimmy raised his palms in wonder. "You see my point?" |
"A heartfelt bildungsroman, a story of a man coming to terms with his complicated youth, and a vivid novel of place"
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