A Boardwalk Story [Hardcover]

J. Louis Yampolsky (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 5, 2009

1939. The tenth year of the Great Depression in America. Europe teeters on the brink of war. In Atlantic City, New Jersey--a seashore resort town that springs to life every summer--Jack Laurel comes of age.

At 15, Jack's life is turned upside down by an almost magical convergence of people and events. A mysterious boardwalk entertainer inspires a love of literature, a feud with neighborhood bullies escalates, and innocence is lost. Jack stumbles into commodities trading with two men: one a reclusive mystic, the other a charismatic pitchman and mathematical savant. The musings of a boardwalk fortuneteller set the three partners up to reap unimagined profits--but a house of cards is about to come down around them and, with it, the wrath of an iron-fisted crime boss.

In his first novel, J. Louis Yampolsky evokes the days when Atlantic City was the 'Playground of the World'--the home of gilded Arabesque hotels, parades, pageants, and the famous Steel Pier. A Boardwalk Story is a startling debut from a remarkable new voice in American fiction.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Yampolsky conjures the Atlantic City of yesterday - the one that s been bulldozed over to make way for glittering casinos and towering cement parking lots. An impressive debut." --Bryant Simon, author, Boardwalk of Dreams "A rich, detailed visit to an Atlantic City that now exists only in memory. ...A Boardwalk Story tells a coming-of-age tale of equal parts charm and excitement, with a generous helping of danger that takes you by surprise. --Jim Waltzer, coauthor, Tales of South Jersey, and author, Sound of Mind

A rich, detailed visit to an Atlantic City that now exists only in memory. ...A Boardwalk Story tells a coming-of-age tale of equal parts charm and excitement, with a generous helping of danger that takes you by surprise. --Jim Waltzer, coauthor, Tales of South Jersey, and author, Sound of Mind

"He writes with the wisdom of an older person but tells the story with excitement and danger looming at the end of every page forcing you to continue turning the page to "find out what happens next." (I read the book in two nights--and found myself crying and wanting more). --Marguerite Regina Belger, margueritananfara.blogspot.com

About the Author

J. Louis Yampolsky is a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He practiced public accounting for 40 years before retiring from public practice to become a financial manager of trusts and investment partnerships. Mr. Yampolsky lives in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, and in Margate, New Jersey, with his wife, Judith. They have five children, nine grandchildren, and one great-granddaughter. A Boardwalk Story is Mr. Yampolsky s first novel.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 488 pages
• Publisher: Plexus Publishing, Inc. [USA] (October 5, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0937548723
• ISBN-13: 978-0937548721
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6.6 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,455,616 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Super Reading Experience, February 14, 2010

By 

Edward C. West "Ed West" (Boca Raton, FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Boardwalk Story (Hardcover)

This author's first novel is riveting. It graphically, and skillfully, describes Atlantic City before the Casino Era. Things in those bygone days were very different than the current scene, but there was certainly no lack of intrigue, adventure, and human interest. Read it and learn about boardwalk hucksters, commodity market opportunities and lurking danger, and the influence of the classic "bosses" of old. Throw in a dash of sex and politics and you have a terrific reading experience.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An entertaining journey back to Atlantic City of yesteryear, October 5, 2009

By 

Sarah L. Johnson (Charleston, IL, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Boardwalk Story (Hardcover)

Welcome to Atlantic City circa 1939, the recreation capital of the Jersey Shore, a wondrous place lined with amusement arcades, elegant hotels, and antique shops. Here men and women stroll along the boardwalk in their best leisure suits and fancy dresses, pitchmen hawk products to eager tourists, and permanent residents move to basement apartments to make room for the summer crowd. In this tenth year of the Great Depression, money's tight and war looms on the horizon. But as the days get longer, fifteen-year-old Jack Laurel is preoccupied with his new job at Krilow's Kitchen Gadgets, his neighbor Rhoda's sexy figure, and avoiding the wrath of neighborhood bullies.

With his best friend away, Jack falls into the company of a motley group of adults. Charming pitchman Benny James amazes him with his ability to attract gorgeous girls, and Morris, a watercolor artist with a secret life as a mechanical man, introduces him to the joys of literature. Then things really get thrown for a loop when a loner with a talent for commodities trading enters the picture. With the help of a fortuneteller who doesn't believe in her own abilities, they stumble into an unlikely business partnership which proves astoundingly successful and attracts the notice of a powerful Italian crime boss. Jack's love life also picks up speed, but growing up brings complications along with new discoveries, and soon he starts to feel like he's leading two separate lives.

This fast-paced coming-of-age tale stands apart from the pack. Jack, writing today, recounts his story while looking back on his youth. His narration, clear and snappy and forthright, switches smoothly between an adolescent's exuberance and an older, more seasoned man's experience. He peppers the story with details on clothing, geography, housing, prices, and salaries, but he personalizes everything so well that they never feel like dry facts. The author teases by having some of the characters veer close to caricature, but their unpredictable personalities prevent them from crossing the line.

Between Jack's adventures and the eccentric characters he meets, the novel definitely has its zany side -- it's lots of fun to read -- yet the tone is tempered by a sobering realism. It's nostalgic without being schmaltzy. In 1939, many men over forty are World War I vets who served in the trenches. Their perspective (and that of the older Jack) serves as a reminder of the world war they survived and the next one soon to come.

Though written for adults, A Boardwalk Story tells it like it was for teenagers living in the late Depression years. The author's personal story is equally as remarkable. A retired accountant and financial manager with no previous fiction writing experience, he wrote the manuscript over a summer, inspired by his granddaughter's questions for a school history project. If you'd like to journey back to Atlantic City of yesteryear, you can't ask for a more entertaining or knowledgeable guide. (Originally posted at Reading the Past)

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book that would make a great movie!, March 2, 2010

By 

WiscGirl (Racine, WI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Boardwalk Story (Hardcover)

I swear if this book had some marketing dollars behind it or was published by a major company like Random House, it would be a #1 best seller. The author wrote the book using an easy conversational style making it an easy read. He fully developed each character so that I had a perfect idea of Jack, Zena, Roland, etc... in my mind. I read some web chatter that this could be made into a movie...fingers crossed!