From the edge of the Hudson River, we travel with fifteen year old Cookie Colangelo into The Heart of Yonkers. Close to the river's edge, it was hot enough to take your clothes off and think about jumping into the water. Cookie has been slow to mature sexually. When her sexual awakening does occur, it's a huge explosion, all-consuming and emotionally powerful. She desperately wants a boyfriend but will not settle for a dumb Yonkers guy. Then she meets Stanley de Falco and falls hard. This Vietnam War Vet has recently returned home. Stanley is vulnerable and trying to come to terms with his own humanity. While Cookie does everything in her power to seduce him, her age is an obstacle to consummating the relationship. Throughout this story, the presence of the river is a brilliant metaphor providing context for unforgettable characters. Ultimately, The Heart of Yonkers is about kissing...well, learning how to kiss, or maybe, it's about much more than kissing.

The Heart of Yonkers (YONKERS Yonkers!)

Literature & Fiction

Vaccarino, Patricia

Genre Fiction

Xanthus Communications LLC & PR for People

Review\nYou can take the girl out of Yonkers but you can't take Yonkers out of the girl.\nWhile author Patricia Vaccarino has lived most of her adult life in the Pacific Northwest, her hometown in New York is the inspiration for many of her stories.\nTwo of Vaccarino's previous books, "YONKERS, Yonkers" and "The Heart of Yonkers," were working class coming-of-age novels.\nBut her latest effort, "The Death of a Library: An American Tragedy," is something different. The book is a mash-up of historical monograph and scathing indictment. Vaccarino explores the calculated political cronyism that brought down what many regarded as the crown jewel of her hometown, Yonkers' Carnegie Library.\nBuilt in an unusual octagonal shape, the Beaux-Arts style library was situated along one of Yonkers' main arterials, at the top of a hill right next to City Hall. The library conveyed an Acropolis-like air to the city that once had been a manufacturing hub, home to Otis Elevator and the Domino Sugar Refinery.\nBy the time Vaccarino was growing up in Yonkers, the city was in decline but the library remained "a sight to behold, a grand object of permanence and beauty, and a beacon of hope in a city that no longer reigned as a queen in manufacturing but was now being savagely torn up in the throes of urban blight and white flight."\nShe describes in detail the library interior -- a place of high ceilings, ornately tiled floors, lunette murals in the children's section and a seemingly limitless supply of books -- it seemed palatial to a working class youngster.\nI'd wager that many of us have similar strong attachments to the libraries of our youth. Often it was in the library that we first discovered our own agency: getting a library card, considering the librarian's book recommendations, then ultimately making decisions about which books to check out. Libraries, for many of us, are a foundational part of our existence.\nIt isn't hard to understand Vaccarino's devastation when, after moving away as a young adult, she returns to Yonkers to visit her grandmother and discovers that the Carnegie Library -- that seemingly eternal edifice on the hill, that bastion of books and ideas -- is gone. All that is left next to City Hall is a hole in the ground.\nThe library was demolished in a grandiose city renovation scheme but the promised developments never materialized.\nThat's not to say that nobody profited -- but local residents didn't see the benefit.\nIn her research for this book, the author uncovers racism, redlining, government oversight and ineffectual citizen opposition. Vaccarino writes at a fever pitch, naming names and alluding to "Trumpian" tactics and possible mob associations.\n"The Death of a Library" is a passionate requiem -- and an accusation against a political system that ignored the public voice. -Bookmonger, Our Coast Magazine\nI was disappointed when I reached the end because I wanted it to go on and on even though I knew that the author covered the topic exhaustively and with her heart. Clearly, the author is the perfect example of the long-term effect this beautiful building has had on many people. I cannot offer enough praise for her effort in writing a book that begged to be written for so many years. She answered the call and has made many current and former Yonkers residents happy. No one more than me. -Frank Cardone, Local Yonkers Historian\n"As a long-time devotee of the Carnegie Library, I devoured The Death of a Library eagerly, anxious to learn the true story of why we lost this treasure. Surprisingly, reading this meticulously researched book caused me to experience many of the same emotions I felt as a child climbing the marble stairs to this magical temple of learning, clearly a dominant influence on all our Yonkers lives. Transported to my youth, I was back in the time when imagination and the power of books could take me anywhere.\nVaccarino's analysis of the end of this mystical part of my life was disturbing, bringi

The Death of a Library: An American Tragedy

History

Americas

A critic once said of the Russian writer Nikolai Gogol, whom Dostoyevsky called the founder of Russian Realism, "His work is full of tears, but there is laughter through the tears."I know, from first-hand experience, that war is not funny; but there is in war much of the unreal, the mystical, and the bizarre. In Darn Those Miserable Yangkhis and Other Stories of the Viet Nam War I have woven a blend of the real, the unreal, the mystical, and the bizarre into tales that will, I hope, generate several chuckles, some laughter, and a few tears, whether one was over there or not. And there is nothing in this story that is more unreal or more bizarre than some of the things that I saw, did, and had done to me.

Darn Those Miserable Yangkhis...: and other stories from the Viet Nam War

Puggelli, Joseph M.

Humor & Satire

Product Description Cut By Cut draws the reader into a single November day in Seattle: pounding rain, wind, and the things Seattleites think about to get through the dark nights and often darker days: money, sex, power, and evolving relationships. Organized the way a film is cut, this is a superbly written, fast-paced story of betrayal and murder, and if you figure out who the murderer is before the ending, you will be the first. This is, literally and figuratively, a “cut” above other thrillers. Review "Cut By Cut is yet another in a fine string of new novels by the prolific and talented Patricia Vaccarino. It draws the reader into a single November day in Seattle: pounding rain, wind, and the things Seattleites think about to get through the dark: money, sex, power, and evolving relationships. Organized the way a film is cut, this is a superbly written, fast-paced story of betrayal and murder, and if you figure out who the murderer is before the ending, you will be the first. This is, literally and figuratively, a "cut" above other thrillers. Vaccarino never disappoints with her fine eye for characters, ear for language and attention to the little details that make it all work!" -John de Graaf, filmmaker and author "Four words describe noted film director Harry Hill - talented, charismatic, powerful, and dead. Brutally murdered alongside his next leading lady, the beautiful, blonde Jewell Cleary, whose hair is now caked in blood around an unrecognizable half-face. Cut By Cut is a love letter to author Patricia Vaccarino's adopted home town of Seattle, paired with her insider knowledge of the art and business of filmmaking to conjure up a modern noir crime thriller that grabs you by the throat and won't let go."-Manny Frishberg, Author of "The Emerald City" "An intricately-plotted mystery where no one's motives are pure. It will keep you guessing right up to the very end."-Susan Alice BickfordEdgar Award Nominee: Dread of WinterLeft Coast Crime Debut Author Nominee: A Short Time to Die "Cut By Cut is a relentless thriller that demands to be read in a single sitting!"-Jordan Riefe, Critic and Author "As a writer of thrillers, I love the action and have a keen eye for that sense of guessing the final twists. I very much enjoyed Cut By Cut with its unexpected and intricate plot. A really good novel."-Marcella Nardi, author of the Marcella Randi mystery series and Joshua and The Brotherhood of the Ark (Italian: Joshua e la Confraternita dell'Arca "The relentless rain on this dark November day in Seattle will leave you chilled to the bone. Superb plot. Masterful storytelling. Vaccarino once again proves that she is an exceptional writer, a cut above the rest." -David L. Laing, Author and Artist "Patricia Vaccarino cuts no slack in Cut By Cut. Is it a whodunit or a who's gonna? A mind-bending film industry murder mystery. Behind the scenes in Seattle, the movie production sequence of events unravels. The scenes are time-stamped in keeping with film industry standards - and to keep readers on their toes. Get the buttered popcorn ready as you sit down to enjoy this book!" - Dean Landsman, Author, Digital Strategist"There is graphic seduction and sex in this novel, as well as graphic violence. There is coarse language. And, as the author tells it, while the film industry may deliver a nice and shiny final product, the behind-the-scenes story is not for the faint of heart. This is a cutthroat business. "Cut by Cut" is both a gruesome and an engrossing whodunit." -- Barbara Lloyd McMichael, The Bookmonger, Our Coast Magazine

Cut By Cut

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Books by Xanthus Communications LLC & PR for People

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the Xanthus Communications LLC & PR for People publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Heart of Yonkers (YONKERS Yonkers!)

The Death of a Library: An American Tragedy

Darn Those Miserable Yangkhis...: and other stories from the Viet Nam War

Cut By Cut